40
Whatever visual poetry the film possesses is overwhelmed by the thuddingly bad and nearly ceaseless narration, written by Ms. Benacerraf and Pierre Seghers.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
Chicago Reader by Andrea Gronvall
This meticulous restoration dazzles with crisp, formally rigorous black-and-white images and a complex sound mix, as its minimalist story of three families of manual laborers unfolds against a harsh, barren peninsula.
80
The movie’s b&w images of craggy landscapes and shirtless young men have never looked more vibrant.
80
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
The 1959 film's style is dated, but it is visually glorious and tells a fascinating story.
75
As a piece of documentary filmmaking though, Araya is more noteworthy for what it reveals about a changing artform than for what it has to say about its subjects.
100
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
It's a strange, one-of-a-kind film that was to be Benacarraf's only full-length feature.
88
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
This astonishing documentary, so beautiful, so horrifying.
75
I'm not sure why it took 50 years for Araya to reach New York, but let us be thankful to Milestone Films for giving life to this forgotten film.
63
While it insists that everyday lives in Araya are full of drudgery and toil, the film fails to produce a single ugly image.