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Matthew Barney: No Restraint

EMAILPRINTIFC First Take

Matthew Barney: No Restraint reviews
59
2.7 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 9 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary

Written by: Alison Chernick

Directed by: Alison Chernick

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 20, 2006
DVD: May 1, 2007

Running Time: 70 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Matthew Barney, Björk, Barbara Gladstone, Jacques Herzog, and Richard Flood

How does artist Matthew Barney use 45,000 pounds of petroleum jelly, a factory whaling vessel and traditional Japanese rituals to create his latest art project? Barney plowed the waters off the coast of Nagasaki to film his massive endeavor, Drawing Restraint 9. The documentary Matthew Barney: No Restraint journeys to Japan with Barney and his collaborator Bjork, as the visual artist creates a "narrative sculpture" telling a fantastical love story of two characters that transform from land mammals into whales. (IFC First Take)

What The Critics Said

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...

100

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Regina Hackett

Maybe because I happen to be reading "Moby Dick" and was therefore more open to the wider world of whale metaphor, I found Chernick's view of Barney and his working entourage riveting.

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75

TV Guide Ken Fox

Chernick may not answer every question about this beguiling and enigmatic film, but you wouldn't want it to: Mystery is an essential part of the Barney experience.

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70

Variety Leslie Felperin

Whatever audiences might have wanted to know about sculptor-filmmaker Matthew Barney but were too embarrassed to ask is revealed in accessible documentary Matthew Barney: No Restraint.

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67

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

No Restraint misses a lot of opportunities, like the chance to contrast Barney's work with artists working on a lower budget, or to examine his positive and negative influence on modern art, or to break down an economic model based on selling off the pieces Barney discards along the way.

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60

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

While not as balanced or fully satisfying as it should be, Matthew Barney: No Restraint will fit naturally as a pairing for future theatrical and DVD exposures of Barney's controversial works.

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60

Village Voice Michelle Orange

Chernick's film traces the creation of Barney's "narrative sculpture" with open curiosity and an alert, amiable eye.

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50

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Alison Chernick's film skims the surface of a strange and celebrated career. After a meager 72 minutes, the man who once stretched an obsession with testicles into a five-film cycle remains as unknowable as ever.

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50

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Pleasant enough, with funny moments.

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38

Boston Globe Ken Johnson

As blandly lucid as Barney's is wildly and perplexingly imaginative.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 2.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

jacob f. gave it a2:
A hybrid of Walt Disney and Marilyn Manson... icky and banal. But it's very very trendy, and what else really matters?

James L. gave it a7:
Much is revealed about the artist's method but little is revealed about the artist himself in this compelling documentary. I was confused after seeing his Cremaster Cycle at the Guggenheim; I am still confused after seeing this movie - and that is not an entirely bad thing. Go with an open mind.

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