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The Arbor
The Arbor Image
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Metascore
88 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

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10 out of 10
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  • Summary: Instead of making a conventional documentary or adapting Dunbar’s play The Arbor for the screen, director Clio Barnard has crafted a truly unique work that transcends genre and defies categorization. Following two years conducting audio interviews with Dunbar’s family, friends and neighbors, Barnard filmed actors lip-synching the interviews, flawlessly interpreting every breath, tick and nuance. The film focuses in particular on the playwright’s troubled relationship with her daughter Lorraine who was just 10 when her mother died. Barnard re-introduces Lorraine to her mother’s play and private letters, prompting her to reflect on the extraordinary parallels between their lives. Interwoven with these interviews are staged scenes of Dunbar’s play filmed on The Arbor, the street where she lived. (Strand Releasing)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Variety
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    Apr 25, 2011
    100
    Dramatically spellbinding and intellectually stimulating, picture abstractly manipulates multiple layers of representation to shattering effect.
  2. indieWIRE
    Reviewed by: Eric Kohn
    Apr 26, 2011
    100
    The cumulative impact of The Arbor is one of claustrophobia; at times, the endlessly downbeat adventures of Dunbar and her offspring grow almost unbearably morose.
  3. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Loren King
    Jul 21, 2011
    100
    An innovative hybrid of documentary, staged reading, fictional feature, and confessional, The Arbor defies categorization not merely for art's sake - although its artistry is without question - but because conventional forms seem inadequate for such a harrowing story.

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