The Desert of Forbidden Art
The Desert of Forbidden Art Image
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: How does art survive in a time of oppression? During the Soviet rule artists who stay true to their vision are executed, sent to mental hospitals or Gulags. Their plight inspires young Igor Savitsky. He pretends to buy state-approved art but instead daringly rescues 40,000 forbidden fellow artist's works and creates a museum in the desert of Uzbekistan, far from the watchful eyes of the KGB. Though a penniless artist himself, he cajoles the cash to pay for the art from the same authorities who are banning it. Savitsky amasses an eclectic mix of Russian Avant-Garde art. But his greatest discovery is an unknown school of artists who settle in Uzbekistan after the Russian revolution of 1917, encountering a unique Islamic culture, as exotic to them as Tahiti was for Gauguin. They develop a startlingly original style, fusing European modernism with centuries-old Eastern traditions. (inMotion Studios)

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  • Director: Amanda Pope
  • Genre(s): Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, War, Documentary
  • Rating: Unrated
  • Runtime: 80 min
  • More Details and Credits »

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    Mar 17, 2011
    90
    Tells a tale that is stranger than fiction several times over. Viewers of this remarkable documentary will be astonished at not only what this art looks like and why it's forbidden, but also where it is and how it got there.
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    Mar 7, 2011
    80
    Absorbing documentary is a natural for artscasters.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Neil Genzlinger
    Mar 10, 2011
    80
    The filmmakers found an appealing collection of relatives and others who knew these artists and Savitsky to tell the story, but they also let the art do the talking, with loving, lingering shots of the brightly colored works.
  4. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rothkopf
    Mar 8, 2011
    60
    As brought to life in the stentorian tones of Ben Kingsley, the curator comes off like a driven visionary, but his actual efforts aren't dramatized enough. The paintings speak more articulately: doomy, dank colors and oppressive shapes.

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