92
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThis is as challenging as movies come, alluding to everything from philosopher Thomas Hobbes to the history of Western music.
- 100San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannAn indelible statement on loneliness and spiritual thirst.
- 100New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoWhile Tarr's newest epic, Werckmeister Harmonies, isn't intended for the shopping-mall crowd, it is more viewer-friendly and will please adventurous moviegoers.
- 90VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyA stunning feature -- another hypnotic meditation on popular demagogy and mental manipulation.
- 90New Times (L.A.)Andy KleinNew Times (L.A.)Andy KleinThe pacing is slow, but the film is entrancing and earns a permanent place in the viewer's mind.
- 90The New York TimesLawrence Van GelderThe New York TimesLawrence Van GelderMysterious, poetic and allusive, The Werckmeister Harmonies beckons filmgoers who complain of the vapidity of Hollywood movie making and yearn for a film to ponder and debate.
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanA work of bravura filmmaking.
- 80TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxThe film could easily be reduced to a parable of post-Communist Eastern Europe, but the allegory digs deeper into the very order of things, exemplified by 17th-century musicologist Andreas Werckmeister's arbitrary imposition of a "tempered" tonal system over naturally occurring tunings.