Variety by Boyd van Hoeij
Two minor problems in the closing reels hold the film back from instant-classic status.
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Nicolas Philibert
Cast
Jean-Francois Achilli,
Evelyne Adam,
Jean-Claude Ameisen,
Arno
Genre
Documentary
This documentary depicts twenty-four hours at France's public radio station Radio France. Over the course of a day, the camera travels along station corridors and inside its recording studios, capturing the work of producers, presenters, journalists, and guests. The documentary uncovers the hectic life behind the scenes at Radio France and allows viewers to be immersed in the radio station.
Variety by Boyd van Hoeij
Two minor problems in the closing reels hold the film back from instant-classic status.
The Hollywood Reporter by Jordan Mintzer
The film is a textured portrait of human beings and the jobs they do, offering scant commentary but much to chew on, not to mention plenty of laughs -- no small feat in a movie dedicated to something as dry sounding as “public radio.”
The Dissolve by Noel Murray
Philibert allows even those who’ve never heard a second of Radio France to experience what the network is like, on both sides of the speakers.
Village Voice by Inkoo Kang
La Maison de la Radio is the kind of film that divides its audience into two camps: those happy to observe and those impatient to be told a story.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
As Mr. Philibert continues to pop in and out of different studios, in and out of the building, flitting from one face to the other, it feels as if he were searching for a story that never emerges.
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Aside from the Tour De France segments (the only scenes in the movie to be shot entirely handheld), La Maison lacks the warmth that’s characterized Philibert’s best work. Eventually, the film begins to resemble a cross between a radio station’s webcast and a security-camera feed.
Time Out by Eric Hynes
Given only hints of personalities and the thinnest strands of stories, we’re left with a hum of tinny snippets instead of anything that resembles the glorious noise of people putting on show after show after show.
Slant Magazine
Whether or not you consider this a banal topic, it's plain to see that the puttering documentary doesn't achieve magnificence.
Slant Magazine by Kalvin Henely
Whether or not you consider this a banal topic, it's plain to see that the puttering documentary doesn't achieve magnificence.
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