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Following Sean
Shadow Distribution


9.6

based on 13 reviews
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based on 3 votes
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Ralph Arlyck (narrator), and Sean Farrell

Filmmaker Ralph Arlyck first met Sean while living as a graduate student in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood at the height of the 1960s. Thirty years, three generations, and a lifetime later, Arlyck has returned to San Francisco in search of who the adult Sean might have become. (Shadow Distribution)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Ralph Arlyck
DIRECTED BY:	Ralph Arlyck
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 27, 2007 Theatrical: January 13, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	87 minutes, Color / B/W
ORIGIN:	France / USA
LANGUAGE(S):	French / English

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

What promises to be a standard postmortem on 60s ideology becomes a thoughtful essay on the choices we all make between work, family, and personal freedom.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Perhaps Following Sean is as much of a cultural oddity as "Sean" itself turned out to be. But it's a decidedly interesting one nonetheless.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

At its exhilarating best, Following Sean is reminiscent of the lauded British documentaries that began with "7 Up.''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

If Arlyck's own life feels unworthy of the attention, Sean's illuminating, unconventional and contemporary story makes up for it.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

You won't be disappointed, and you will be deeply, quietly moved.

The Hollywood Reporter Sura Wood

Arlyck's artful use of "then and now" images illustrates the relentlessness with which time moves forward. Youth is, indeed, elusive. His seductive film is a retrieval mission and, as such, it is ineffably sad.

Village Voice Drew Tillman

Arlyck's compulsion is to our great fortune. Patient and elegant, his film is a quietly devastating meditation on family, work, and the unrelenting passage of time.

The New York Times Nathan Lee

What emerges is a liberal meditation on freedom and compromise, and a nostalgia trip graced by eloquent restraint.

LA Weekly Steven Mikulan

Sean's grandfather was the colorful longshore Communist Archie Brown, and part of the film's charm lies in its evocation of a generational mural that includes old Marxists, flower children and the progeny of red-diaper babies.

Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour

What emerges from Arlyck's musings is a penetrating cinematic essay on how generations in the last century struggled to take hold of history and reconfigure the shape of daily life.

Boston Globe Janice Page

If ''Sean" was about conviction and revolution, Following Sean is about ambivalence and resignation. In either case it's pretty easy for a funny-provocative kid to stand out.

Variety Ronnie Scheib

As fascinating as it is frustrating.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Arlyck spends more time following himself and his own lefty family than checking up on Sean.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ravi R. gave it a10:
I know we tend to rate most highly those movies we've seen most recently, but I cannot recommend _Following Sean_ too highly. Engaging, funny, brilliant, simultaneously comforting and uncomfortable, and observant, the movie asks us to confront our own lives' narratives; received wisdom about the 1960s and even more recent American history; the meaning of adulthood, and a thousand other things. It made me think in a way films rarely can -- the way books more often can -- but couldn't possibly give me a headache. And as for technical elements, the editing and narration are perfect, and the granular texture of the film itself complements that of the families' stories. I actually loved _Following Sean_, and came upon this site while looking for information about whether it will ever be released as a DVD. I rarely buy movies, but I'll buy this one.

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Following Sean Shadow Distribution

Following Sean
Shadow Distribution