San Francisco Chronicle by David Lewis

It’s a wild ride from beginning to end, thanks to a fearless performance from Finnish actor Elmer Back, who is a perfect match for Greenaway’s mischief.

The Film Stage

Elmer Bäck’s performance as Eisenstein is exceptional, his manic energy somehow able to match that of the film’s visuals and achieving a synergy of exuberance.

The Film Stage by Giovanni Marchini Camia

Elmer Bäck’s performance as Eisenstein is exceptional, his manic energy somehow able to match that of the film’s visuals and achieving a synergy of exuberance.

Variety by Peter Debruge

Greenaway has wrought an outrageously unconventional and deliriously profane biopic that could take decades to be duly appreciated.

Total Film by James Mottram

Beautiful and bold, rebellious and riotous, its sexual frankness puts E.L. James in the shade.

Slant Magazine by Carson Lund

What comes through clearly by the end of the film is the act of one artist's eccentric generosity breathing new awareness into the life of another.

The Seattle Times by John Hartl

Eisenstein in Guanajuato is an outrageous comic-erotic extravaganza that has more of a narrative arc than most Greenaway movies.

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

Beyond the arty trappings and flamboyant showmanship that are typical of Mr. Greenaway, 73, Eisenstein in Guanajuato is a brazen provocation.

The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij

Greenaway’s habitual approach is perfect for this material, constantly externalizing the director’s ideas about Eisenstein’s life and work and the way the two are connected in a way that speaks directly -- often quite literally -- to the audience.

New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme

The film has all the incessant showiness that can make Greenaway irksome: split screens, CGI, deliberately alienating performances. But the man loves a beautiful shot and a witty line; those are the things that carry the film.

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

A lot of this is naughty, overproduced egghead fun, and the scenes between Eisenstein and Canedo simmer with sexual tension. But too much is never enough for Greenaway, and while the leading men give bravura performances, the supporting cast is weak — Lisa Owen as Mrs. Upton Sinclair is actively dreadful — and the film’s hyperactivity ultimately wears you down.

Village Voice by Aaron Hillis

Rigorous and outrageous, Greenaway's defiant approach to narrative only offers insight into his character, not Eisenstein's.

Los Angeles Times by Michael Rechtshaffen

Greenaway's boundary-pushing, breathlessly in-your-face approach begins to take its toll on viewer patience.

The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Photos, clips from Eisenstein’s own films and from newsreels, and the director’s erotic drawings are spliced in or sometimes projected over the background, but the overloaded visual plane only underlines the fact that Eisenstein In Guanajuato never moves anywhere; eventually, it becomes stultifying. It’s a movie jumping in place.

Screen Daily by Lee Marshall

Sure, there’s a strong element of arch playfulness in the exercise, but that doesn’t make the end result any less tiresome. In Eisenstein In Guanajuato, Greenaway is good at making us look, but not at making us care.

Screen International by Lee Marshall

Sure, there’s a strong element of arch playfulness in the exercise, but that doesn’t make the end result any less tiresome. In Eisenstein In Guanajuato, Greenaway is good at making us look, but not at making us care.