100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
As a nonagenarian, de Oliveira is the world's oldest working filmmaker, and still one of the best. This is a lovely, lively, timely treat for the eyes and mind.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
A film destined to divide Manoel de Oliveira's fans but also to win him new ones, A Talking Picture is his simplest, most linear story in memory.
70
Still astonishingly vital at 96, the Portuguese maestro Manoel de Oliveira here takes a becalmed trip through stormy waters.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
A thoughtful, provocative effort that makes up for its narrative failings with its astute philosophical musings.
80
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
Initially this seems naive and archaic, but it conceals a Buñuelian stinger in its tail.
40
This intermittently interesting symbolic tour through European history once again places ideas over aesthetics and technique.
90
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
In both its intellectual reach and the elegant simplicity of its form, A Talking Picture bears resemblance to Andrei Sokurov's "Russian Ark."
88
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
It's a great film that, sadly, may be ignored by all but the most dedicated, knowledgable filmgoers.
80
De Oliveira wraps A Talking Picture with a simultaneous introduction and farewell--a bold curtain-dropper that's either a bleak joke or an imprecisely controlled scream of rage.
75
Moves along its tranquil way until about five minutes before the closing credits, when it turns into a terrorist thriller.