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What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

  • 20182018
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
808
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
Pauline Kael in What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:54
1 Video
6 Photos
  • Documentary
  • Biography

A portrait of the work and life of controversial film critic Pauline Kael, and her battle to achieve success and influence in the 20th century movie business.A portrait of the work and life of controversial film critic Pauline Kael, and her battle to achieve success and influence in the 20th century movie business.A portrait of the work and life of controversial film critic Pauline Kael, and her battle to achieve success and influence in the 20th century movie business.

IMDb RATING
6.8/10
808
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Rob Garver
  • Writer
    • Rob Garver
  • Stars
    • Pauline Kael(archive footage)
    • John Guare
    • David Edelstein
Top credits
  • Director
    • Rob Garver
  • Writer
    • Rob Garver
  • Stars
    • Pauline Kael(archive footage)
    • John Guare
    • David Edelstein
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 13User reviews
    • 44Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 6 nominations

    Videos1

    What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
    Trailer 1:54
    What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

    Photos6

    Pauline Kael in What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)
    Pauline Kael in What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)
    Pauline Kael in What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)
    What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)
    What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Pauline Kael
    Pauline Kael
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    John Guare
    John Guare
    • Selfas Self
    David Edelstein
    David Edelstein
    • Selfas Self
    Greil Marcus
    • Selfas Self
    Gina James
    • Selfas Self
    Camille Paglia
    • Selfas Self
    Brian Kellow
    • Selfas Self
    Craig Seligman
    • Selfas Self
    Jaime Manrique
    • Selfas Self
    Daryl Chin
    • Selfas Self
    Dick Cavett
    Dick Cavett
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    Lili Anolik
    • Selfas Self
    Edward Landberg
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    James Wolcott
    James Wolcott
    • Selfas Self
    Paul Schrader
    Paul Schrader
    • Selfas Self
    Molly Haskell
    Molly Haskell
    • Selfas Self
    Phillip Lopate
    • Selfas Self
    • (as Philip Lopate)
    David O. Russell
    David O. Russell
    • Selfas Self
    • Director
      • Rob Garver
    • Writer
      • Rob Garver
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Pauline Kael, the New Yorker film critic for 25 years until the early 1990s, was a lightning rod of American culture. She waged a battle to be recognized and her opinions made her readers hate or love her. Her distinctive voice pioneered the art form, and was largely a result of stubborn determination, huge confidence, and a deep love of the arts. The movie also shows 20th-century movies through Pauline's eye, and shows Pauline's own life through moments of other movies. The filmmakers had complete access to the subject -- through Gina James, Pauline's only child and the executor of her estate; friends and colleagues; and Pauline's personal archives. With over 30 new interviews, including David O. Russell, Quentin Tarantino, Camille Paglia, Molly Haskell, Alec Baldwin Greil Marcus, Paul Schrader, John Guare and Joe Morgenstern. Sarah Jessica Parker voices Pauline through her writing and letters.
    • film critic
    • film industry
    • hollywood
    • female film critic
    • film footage
    • 3 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Documentary
      • Biography
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

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    • Quotes

      Paul Schrader: We're not talking about film criticism, we're talking about Pauline Kael, and - in the end of the game - what Kael promoted wasn't film. It was her.

    • Connections
      Features Ménilmontant (1926)

    User reviews13

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    A Movie About A Woman Who Wrote About Movies
    Here's a documentary about film critic Pauline Kael. A movie about a movie critic! It seems an exercise in tail chasing.

    For seemingly forever, including a couple of decades at The New Yorker, Pauline Kael was the outspoken voice of people who love an unseemly art. Movies, by their nature, cannot aspire to find that one, golden patron who will pay for their work. Instead, they must seek a mass audience, which means one must not be too hoity-toity. The business of movies is to make a product at a price that will entice enough people to pay for it to yield a profit. It's the same business model that a kid selling lemonade or Boeing making air craft uses.

    If a critic has any purpose, it's to upbraid the movie producer who tries to slip bad films past an unsuspecting audience, to alert that audience to something that is unexpectedly good, and to do it in a manner that keeps people interested in her own, subjective opinion.... because it's all opinions, and it's all subjective... and ultimately, to let her audience know why: why this movie is good, why that movie is bad, why the third is junk, but good junk, and the fourth bad junk. She must be a prude and a pander, and enormously popular. And, to a certain extent, she must be feared.

    All this Miss Kael did, with her world-weary attitude, her accessible, combative prose, her position as a reviewer for The New Yorker, and her books.

    If this movie has any value, it's to alert people to the existence of Miss Kael's writing, to let them know that here's someone who has seen these films and might be able to tell them something that would enrich their understanding of them. Yet what matters about Miss Kael is not her life, or her rise to prominence. It's her writing. So read what she wrote.
    helpful•2
    5
    • boblipton
    • Dec 12, 2020

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 25, 2019 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official website
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Pauline Kael: el arte de la crítica
    • Filming locations
      • New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • 29Pictures
      • Good Wizard
      • MadPix
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1
      • 16:9 HD

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