Gunda

G

Released Apr 16, 2021

1h 33m

Documentary

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98%

93 Reviews

Tomatometer

70%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Experiential cinema in its purest form, GUNDA chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with masterful intimacy. Using stark, transcendent black and white cinematography and the farm's ambient soundtrack, Master director Victor Kossakowsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an other worldly perspective. GUNDA asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness, and reckon with the role humanity plays in it.

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Critics Consensus

Gunda takes an absorbingly meditative look at farm life from the animals' perspective, tacitly posing questions about our relationship to food along the way.

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Cari L

The powerfulness and sheer beauty of this film is beyond description. Basically a silent film other than the natural sounds of animals, insects...nature. Must see to understand. Cinematic genius seems an appropriate label. Go see for yourself.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/20/23

Full Review

john s

RUNT A stunning black and white silent (save the grunting) documentary that soft focuses on the life of a pig. Seems innocuous enough, but there is magic here. Shot at ground level, and sparing nothing from farm life, "Gunda" is not here to shock, or illicit clown tears, but to have a look, like a wide-eyed child might back in the day when summers were not filled with organized sports camps or school continuation. It captures that slow, languid, breezy feel of beautiful boredom. Opening with the birth of a litter, it follows the towering mother sow as she clumsily deals with the runt of her offspring. It is astonishing, inviting, and then shockingly cruel. What is happening is not exactly clear, and there is no deep voice over to mansplain nature. That is the beauty of this film: it evolves along with the undetermined storyline. A slow, dreamy bit of cinema, "Gunda" works well in transporting the audience to a world most are familiar with but few actually know or have experienced hands on. The sharp monochrome delivery turns a pigsty into a pleasant aesthetic. The absence of smell helps. Nothing revelatory here, and since this is a farm, well, let's just say that the animals are not in charge, and there is a sudden dramatic turn to remind everyone about life's cold harsh realities. "Gunda" is an animal film that is really not an animal film. It is a brilliant exercise in moment capture, shot with an addictive lens, documenting some life lessons, without preaching or dwelling on anything in particular. Pigs in showbiz are usually funny, smart or exotic. Not here. "Gunda" is a mother, and that is that. - hipCRANK

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

david l

Gunda has the power, if not to make you a vegetarian, then to at least make you think about what you are eating. This is a powerful nature documentary about the lives of farm animals, in particular focusing on a sow and her piglets. It is serene in its endearing imagery that permeates most of the film until it shocks you into disbelief with that absolutely horrific and heartbreaking closing scene. The lack of score and use of black-and-white photography made for a timeless feel to the movie.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

This is even better than the other Pig movie! Pura drama out of something unexpected. Will definitely make you reconsider your next meal...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Wow, uber-urban film critics strike again. This is one of those docs where critics who have no real connection or direct experience with the subject matter will find that in itself reason to praise it. So all you block-of-flats/upper eastside/downtown-dwelling types who only see pigs as pork at a shop or when watching Babe, or cows & chickens also in edible form, you see something like this and then conjure up the dubious image of the 'noble beasts' or the thought of these simple creatures as something greater than just farm animals used for human gain as you eat your Whole Foods veggie burgers and jackfruit 'fish tacos'. It's way too hipster-ick for me. I saw all this time and time again as a kid, esp. the cows. I appreciate the nice camera work. The piglets/shoats were cute. But it's just a day on any number of farms. Let's be real. 2.3 stars just cuz

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Really excited about this one. A voiceover free documentary about a big sow and her little piglets. Shot in black and white and very, very pure. We follow them for a year or so, that's my guess at least, and we get a one-legged chicken and some cows on screen a few times as well. It's a meditative watch, but sadly pretty flat. I don't know what I expected, but I hoped for a bit more. Cool to have Joaquin Phoenix on board and the coolest part is that it was shot on a farm just a few stones throws away from my crib. One very obscure - brutal scene, a few sad ones, but mostly carefree animals animaling around. 6 out of 10 tractors.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Gunda: Trailer 1

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Bilge Ebiri

New York Magazine/Vulture

Kossakovsky's mesmerizing, gorgeous documentary about the life of a mother pig and her babies on an unnamed farm somewhere in the world serves as a bracing corrective to the way animals are usually portrayed on film.

Aug 11, 2021

Full Review

Donald Clarke

Irish Times

There is plenty of time to ponder the morality of our dominion over the beasts.A highly original, singularly beautiful film.

Rated: 5/5

Jun 15, 2021

Full Review

David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

Full of fascinating behavioural insights and moments that are both hilarious and adorable, this studied treatise on the personality and emotionality of domestic animals should provide plentiful food for thought.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 7, 2021

Full Review

Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

Kossakovsky is respectful and achieves a harmonious and elegant narration. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/5

Aug 24, 2022

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

There’s no music to guide our emotions or narration to explain what we’re seeing. It doesn’t frame or stealthily edit scenes for dramatic effect. Instead “Gunda” asks its audience to observe, absorb, and ponder.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 21, 2022

Full Review

Erick Estrada

Cinegarage

An experimental documentary of technological high caliber and quality images... [Full review in Spanish]

Aug 11, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Experiential cinema in its purest form, GUNDA chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with masterful intimacy. Using stark, transcendent black and white cinematography and the farm's ambient soundtrack, Master director Victor Kossakowsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an other worldly perspective. GUNDA asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness, and reckon with the role humanity plays in it.

Director: Victor Kossakovsky
Producer: Tone Grøttjord, Joaquin Phoenix, Tone Grøttjord-Glenne
Screenwriter: Victor Kossakovsky, Ainara Vera
Distributor: NEON
Production Co: MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Empathy Arts, Norwegian Film Institute, Storyline Studios, Artemis Rising Foundation, Sant & Usant, Hailstone Films, Fritt Ord Foundation, Louverture Films
Rating: G
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 16, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA): $110.4K
Runtime: 1h 33m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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