| 100 |
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
A fascinating nonfiction voyage into rural and urban France, focusing on idiosyncratic individuals who live off things the rest of us throw away, from food to furniture.
|
| 100 |
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The story of herself (Varda), a woman whose life has consisted of moving through the world with the tools of her trade, finding what is worth treasuring.
|
| 100 |
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Of all the movies I've seen in the past several years, this is one of the ones I love the most.
|
| 91 |
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Feels delightfully organic, eccentrically rambling, the found artistic collage of a woman who herself loves to collect.
|
| 90 |
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
She (Varda) plucks images and stories from the world around her, finding beauty and nourishment in lives and activities the world prefers to ignore.
|
| 90 |
Chicago Reader
Meredith Brody
Beautiful, absorbing, and touching, this film is a mind-expanding experience not to be missed.
|
| 90 |
Film.com
Peter Brunette
It's a superb example of the genre of the self-expressive documentary.
|
| 88 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
At once guileless and profound.
|
| 88 |
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Varda's charmingly eccentric amble, wise in its seeming waywardness.
|
| 83 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
Varda sees herself as a gleaner as she searches for the people and cultural activities missed by the rest of the media.
|
| 80 |
Mr. Showbiz
Michael Atkinson
A delicacy for mature filmgoers who are able to derive as much pleasure from a perfectly, sympathetically crafted essay as from a well-spun yarn.
|
| 80 |
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
It's both surreal -- and wholly accessible.
|
| 80 |
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
There's a timelessness, an immanence to what she (Varda) shows us.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Captivating new documentary, The Gleaners and I, is charged with the pleasure of discovery.
|
| 80 |
Village Voice
Amy Taubin
Eccentric and thoroughly winning.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
Varda's subject matter is surprisingly rich, but it's her own energetic, curious nature that gives the film its snap.
|
| 70 |
TV Guide
Ken Fox
It's a humbling way of life, and one that, as Varda discovers in this wonderful, 80-minute essay, has survived in surprising ways.
|
| 70 |
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Something of an odd bird, a cross between a documentary, an art film and a personal reflection on aging.
|
| 70 |
New Times (L.A.)
Andy Klein
Varda, still pixieish in her early 70s, is having fun here.
|
| 63 |
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Varda injects her sprightly personality into the film, a seasoning that sometimes overwhelms the stew.
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