75
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Village VoiceErnest HardyVillage VoiceErnest HardyIt's a must-see for anyone interested in art.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranTells a tale that is stranger than fiction several times over. Viewers of this remarkable documentary will be astonished at not only what this art looks like and why it's forbidden, but also where it is and how it got there.
- 80VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyAbsorbing documentary is a natural for artscasters.
- 80The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerThe New York TimesNeil GenzlingerThe filmmakers found an appealing collection of relatives and others who knew these artists and Savitsky to tell the story, but they also let the art do the talking, with loving, lingering shots of the brightly colored works.
- 75Boston GlobeTom RussoBoston GlobeTom RussoIn The Desert of Forbidden Art, documentarians Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev offer some background on the late Savitsky, a painter who initially collected ethnic folk art quashed by the Stalin regime.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleDoes an admirable job of telling the stories of the obsessive Savitsky and other important Soviet artists, such as Alexander Volkov, Aleksei Rybnikov and Mikhail Kurzin.
- 60Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfAs brought to life in the stentorian tones of Ben Kingsley, the curator comes off like a driven visionary, but his actual efforts aren't dramatized enough. The paintings speak more articulately: doomy, dank colors and oppressive shapes.
- 50New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoSadly, with the Soviet Union gone, the art faces a new enemy: Islamic extremists.