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My Life and Times With Antonin Artaud

1993 1h 30m Drama List
86% Tomatometer 7 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Just released from an asylum in 1946, French poet/intellectual Artaud (Sami Frey) becomes mentor to a young poet (Marc Barbé).

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Seemingly shot in Super-8, these dreamlike, impressionistic sequences, mainly rendered without sound, are heady reminders of how intangible history, as opposed to imaginative speculation, usually is. Jun 9, 2022 Full Review Emanuel Levy Variety Sami Frey gives an astonishingly intense perfromance in his portrait of the genius and madness of the famed French poet-intellectual. Rated: 4/5 Jan 27, 2006 Full Review Russell Smith Austin Chronicle Rated: 3.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Though exceedingly long (over 4 hours), this is an intelligent and insightful chronicle of the eccentric French poet and philosopher who died in 1948 Rated: B+ Jan 9, 2007 Full Review Lewis Whittington culturevulture.net A rare film that actually has something interesting to say about the creative process Feb 9, 2006 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A stimulating grainy black-and-white shot fictionalized biopic on the last two years of one of the great 20th century literary figures, Antonin Artaud. Rated: B Mar 5, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (2) audience reviews
Audience Member I was a bit disappointed in the portrayal of Artaud almost as just a meer junkie but there were some powerfully insightful moments as well. What is a fly? The expression/embodiment of someone that wishes to do you harm (or some such thing). Perhaps the physical world is just a manifestation of the psychic/spiritual and while I got the quote a bit wrong I'm sure the gist is there which shows how interesting/deep Artaud can be. Susan Sontag wrote a nice book about him that I'd recommend as good reading - this film was fine but not great. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the best black and white movies I have watched. Lovely performances and cinemetography. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
My Life and Times With Antonin Artaud

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Movie Info

Synopsis Just released from an asylum in 1946, French poet/intellectual Artaud (Sami Frey) becomes mentor to a young poet (Marc Barbé).
Director
Gérard Mordillat
Producer
Denis Freyd
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Runtime
1h 30m