City Hall

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City Hall

2020

4h 35m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

98%

Tomatometer

64 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman examines the rich history of Boston City Hall.

Critics Consensus

A glimpse of local government at work that's as patiently observant as it is engrossing, City Hall adds another insightful gem to master documentarian Frederick Wiseman's filmography.

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Jason Bailey

The Playlist

A reminder that government, for all of its speed bumps and snags, can work. It can help. The people running it just have to want it to.

Rated: A

Feb 15, 2021

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K. Austin Collins

Rolling Stone

On its surface, in so many ways, City Hall could read as an endorsement. But politics aren't that simple -- and Wiseman's movie most certainly isn't, either.

Rated: 4.5/5

Nov 13, 2020

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Mark Feeney

Boston Globe

What Frederick Wiseman has been doing for all these years and in all these films is trying to make art of decency and process. In the good ones, he's succeeded. "City Hall" is one of the very good ones.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 9, 2020

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Jake Mulligan

Dig Boston

Even just taken as a portrait of Boston in the midst of what'll now forever be known as 'the moment before the pandemic,' it's a work of massive regional significance.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 6, 2021

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Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Hammer to Nail

Whatever one's political leanings ... the spectacle of public servants at work proves profound, the hard labor of daily management a Herculean task of truly epic proportions.

Jun 10, 2021

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M.G. Mailloux

In Review Online

City Hall lacks that sort of nuanced, curious approach to its material, and in its absence, Wiseman doesn't have much to offer beyond standard homage to contemporary liberalism.

Jun 5, 2021

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Audience Member

Dreadful documentary, it's 4 hours of watching the mayor and his assistants doing what they are supposed to do "working" for a salary. Critics always praise the worst documentaries and movies, always! no matter what.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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david f

A great, long look at that civic institution had by every town, big and small.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Frederick Wiseman

Director

Karen Konicek

Producer

Frederick Wiseman

Producer

Sally Jo Fifer

Executive Producer

Ailey

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman examines the rich history of Boston City Hall.

Director: Frederick Wiseman
Producer: Karen Konicek, Frederick Wiseman
Production Co: Puritan Pictures, Ford Foundation - Just Films, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) [us], ITVS International
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Runtime: 4h 35m