Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts Image
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Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

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  • Summary: A uniquely intimate portrait of the music icon, Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts explores the contemporary composer's creative process in opera, concert, and film, interwoven with candid scenes of his personal and spiritual life. In July 2005, filmmaker Scott Hicks started shooting a documentary about the composer Philip Glass to celebrate his 70th birthday in 2007. Over the next 18 months, he followed Glass across three continents, from his annual ride on the Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster, to the world premiere of his new opera in Germany, to a performance with a didgeridoo virtuoso in Australia. Allowed unprecedented access to Glass' working process, family life, spiritual teachers, and longtime collaborators, including Martin Scorsese, Errol Morris, Chuck Close, Christopher Hampton, and others, Hicks gives audiences a remarkable mosaic portrait of one of the greatest--and at times controversial--artists of this or any era. (Koch Lorber Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Joshua Kosman
    75
    With his self-deprecating demeanor and easy laugh, Glass is a congenial presence, and now and then he lets an insight drop.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    67
    As fascinating as Glass often is, it's simultaneously too conventional and not conventional enough.
  3. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jeremy Eichler
    63
    The lack of a credible external perspective beyond the narrative provided by Glass, his friends, family, and associates, makes the film feel too cozy.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    60
    Much like its subject: affable, quotable and emotionally guarded in the extreme.

See all 6 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. ricimer
    10
    A must-see for every Philip Glass fan out there, the composer and the man really come across in this documentary and there is a great deal of insights about his musical upbringing and the cultural climate in which he developed his unique skills.… Expand
  2. Phil_D
    10
    Fantastic poetic warm genial documentary on the life of Philip Glass. A must for any musik-lieber and for everyone else interested in the most universal human form of art. Absolutely brilliant.… Expand

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