76
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe elegiac Spettacolo is in some ways a familiar story, revolving around the universal tug of war between time and tradition.
- 80Village VoiceBilge EbiriVillage VoiceBilge EbiriIs this art or is this prophecy? Is there even a difference?
- 80Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinTheater lovers and Italophiles alike should savor the documentary Spettacolo.
- 75Slant MagazineChristopher GraySlant MagazineChristopher GrayThough some of Spettacolo's tension is superficial, the stuff of any let’s-put-on-a-show narrative, its latent anxieties are myriad and profoundly resonant.
- 75The A.V. ClubVikram MurthiThe A.V. ClubVikram MurthiAlthough Spettacolo is thoughtful and charming throughout, it’s mildly disappointing that the film doesn’t further engage with the self-reflexivity of the annual event itself.
- 75RogerEbert.comNick AllenRogerEbert.comNick AllenIt is a touching document of seemingly regular people who yearn to keep an artistic tradition alive.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThough at its core the film is about a dying way of life, the location and photography here are so beguiling that they semi-perversely encourage just the kind of foreign tourism that factors into that slow death.
- 67The Film StageThe Film StageIf Spettacolo has a significant flaw, it is in the somewhat pedestrian and placid manner in which it is constructed. There is the feeling that the directors see the play as a vehicle in order to explore the town as a whole, which does allow for some lovely moments of contemplation but makes the film less focused and motivated as a whole.