80
Variety by Alissa Simon
The strong subject matter as well as the eponymous subject’s storied life makes one wish for a longer running time than 72 minutes.
Josep
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- France,
- Spain,
- Belgium
- 2020
- · 71m
Director
Aurel
Cast
Sergi López,
Alba Pujol,
Sílvia Pérez Cruz,
Valérie Lemercier,
Gérard Hernandez,
David Marsais
Genre
Animation,
Drama,
History
As Franco seizes Spain, Catalan artist Josep Bartolí flees to France, only to be imprisoned in a brutal refugee camp. Amid starvation and despair, an unlikely friendship with a French gendarme gives him the means to draw again. Through his art, Josep retraces Bartolí’s path from a persecuted Republican to an exiled artist who found refuge and love in Mexico.
Stream Josep
What are critics saying?
80
Screen Daily by Lisa Nesselson
A harsh history lesson as well as a good yarn, this visually arresting endeavour registers strongly at a time when refugees account for a record 1% of the world’s population.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by Jordan Mintzer
Aurel’s artwork is less detailed and more cartoonish than Bartolí’s, but no less evocative, especially in his choice of colors.
80
The Guardian by Cath Clarke
It’s a delicate, thoughtful film, moving and real.
70
The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold
The 74-minute film leaps among time frames without much warning. Occasionally, the screen erupts into crackling black-and-white images drawn directly from Bartolí’s work — as if torn from the very pages of his sketchbooks.
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