The Nine Muses
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Metascore
63 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: Structured as an allegorical fable and loosely inspired by existential science fiction, The Nine Muses is a stylised, unusual and idiosyncratic retelling of the history of mass migration to post-war Britain through the suggestive lens of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey. Divided into nine oveverlapping musical chapters and mixing a vast array of archival material, The Nine Muses is a modern recasting of Homer’s epic as a tone poem about journeys, migration, memory and the power of elegy. The film deploys the ‘voices’ of a remarkable range of period and contemporary actors reading classical texts by Nietzsche, Dante, Shakespeare or Beckett, from John Barrymore to Richard Burton, Dermot Crowley, or Teresa Gallagher among others. The Nine Muses also offers a dizzying range of musical performances from Paul Robeson, Leontyne Price and India’s Gundecha Brothers, with a range of music by Arvo Pärt, Wagner as well as Schubert’s stunning Winterreise. The Nine Muses is a feast for the eyes and the ears, a virtuoso exercise in montage and sound. (New Wave Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Chuck Bowen
    Oct 4, 2011
    100
    The Nine Muses is the kind of nonfiction film I actively hope for: a picture of intuitive, free-associational power that cuts far deeper emotionally than a dry recitation of dates and facts could ever hope to.
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    Oct 4, 2011
    80
    Akomfrah's steady, patient pace makes it fairly easy and ultimately fascinating to absorb his many heady references.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Stephen Farber
    Oct 4, 2011
    60
    Nine Muses is clearly the work of a talented filmmaker, and there are many moments to beguile the ears as well as the eyes. Yet it's a long slog through a few thousand years of myth and history, and most viewers are likely to grow impatient during the journey.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Paul Brunick
    Oct 6, 2011
    50
    At once austere and conceptually overwrought, The Nine Muses is both too much and not enough.

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