ArayaMovie Reviews

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Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Christian Science Monitor | Peter Rainer

    It's a strange, one-of-a-kind film that was to be Benacarraf's only full-length feature. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    This astonishing documentary, so beautiful, so horrifying. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    The 1959 film's style is dated, but it is visually glorious and tells a fascinating story. Read full review

  • 80
    Time Out New York | David Fear

    The movie's b&w images of craggy landscapes and shirtless young men have never looked more vibrant. Read full review

  • 75
    The Onion A.V. Club | Noel Murray

    As a piece of documentary filmmaking though, Araya is more noteworthy for what it reveals about a changing artform than for what it has to say about its subjects. Read full review

  • 75
    New York Post | V.A. Musetto

    I'm not sure why it took 50 years for Araya to reach New York, but let us be thankful to Milestone Films for giving life to this forgotten film. Read full review

  • 70
    Chicago Reader | Andrea Gronvall

    This meticulous restoration dazzles with crisp, formally rigorous black-and-white images and a complex sound mix, as its minimalist story of three families of manual laborers unfolds against a harsh, barren peninsula. Read full review

  • 70
    Village Voice |

    Another stunningly photographed document of a singular culture. Read full review

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    While it insists that everyday lives in Araya are full of drudgery and toil, the film fails to produce a single ugly image. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times |

    Whatever visual poetry the film possesses is overwhelmed by the thuddingly bad and nearly ceaseless narration, written by Ms. Benacerraf and Pierre Seghers. Read full review

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