Occupied City

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Occupied City

PG-13

Released Dec 25, 2023

4h 0m

Documentary

History

War

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Popcornmeter

72%

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64 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

The past collides with our precarious present in Steve McQueen's bravura documentary Occupied City, informed by the book Atlas of an Occupied City (Amsterdam 1940-1945) written by Bianca Stigter. McQueen creates two interlocking portraits: a door-to-door excavation of the Nazi occupation that still haunts his adopted city, and a vivid journey through the last years of pandemic and protest. What emerges is both devastating and life-affirming, an expansive meditation on memory, time, and where we're headed.

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Critics Consensus

Occupied City is an impressively ambitious attempt to connect the past with the present, although its repetitive approach and overwhelming length will be too much for many viewers.

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Craig Mathieson

The Age (Australia)

The feature is more about repetition than testimony. Narrator Melanie Hyams’ recounting of individual lives aims for an accumulative force.

Oct 11, 2024

Full Review

Christina Newland

iNews.co.uk

Occupied City is undoubtedly rewarding, both as an example of what boundaries non-fiction films can push, and as the output of an artist who, whatever the subject, forces us to pay attention.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 17, 2024

Full Review

Sarah-Tai Black

Globe and Mail

McQueen offers a film that isn’t dispassionate, but rather, with an awareness of such a lengthy history of narrative representation, likens itself to testimony rather than re-enactment.

Apr 25, 2024

Full Review

Clotilde Chinnici

Loud and Clear Reviews

In Occupied City, past and present merge. The Amsterdam of today and that of the past exist in the same breath, both struck by their tragedies, respectively the struggles of our modern age and the Nazi occupation of the city.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 14, 2024

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Jim Schembri

jimschembri.com

Director Steve McQueen paces his 4h, 26m essay at an unhurried pace, often leaving you to dwell on streetscapes without any narration. Absorbing as the film is, it’s a demanding sit...the option to soak it all in at home might serve the film better.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 22, 2024

Full Review

Ray Pride

Newcity

<i>Occupied City</i> haunts even as you watch: its length does not exceed its reach.

Rated: 7/10

Jul 2, 2024

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Andrew G

I understand the juxtaposition, but 4 hours of it over and over. It actually loses the significance. Each story is important and horrible, and perhaps that is what the statement is. It becomes less and less important and shocking and becomes acceptable, which is should not be.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/27/24

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Jory K

mesmerizing, raw, sad, beautiful, evocative cello soundtrack

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/25/24

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Sally M

Almost half of the audience left at the interval and I wish we had - the second half didn't add or enhance a thing. It was great seeing areas and the life of current day Amsterdam and hearing testimony of the past but there seemed nothing original in a constant voice-over just dispassionately listing what happend during occupation

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/18/24

Full Review

Chris W

While over four hours (thank you for the kind 15 minute intermission), I found this doc insightful and innovative in its use of often beautiful scenes of contemporary life in Amsterdam juxtaposed with dramatic voiceover narration detailing what happened to specific residents at specific addresses in the city during the Nazi occupation of World War II. The focus on contemporary Amsterdam denizens action oriented response to a variety of current challenges (climate change, pandemics, youthful ennui/self absorption) is brilliant and represents a compelling path for other filmmakers/issues.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Jeff T

Extraordinary. It's just settling in for me 12 hours later and will stay with me forever. Using only contemporary footage starting in 2020 with the Covid lockdown to tell the history of a demolished society, street address by street address that saw 75% of Amsterdam's and Holland's Jewish population murdered gives a unique profound sensation to a history that could not have been worse, showing humankind at its most pitiful, serially betraying each other amid countless uplifting stories of valor. Reviewers and viewers will need patience and thoughtfulness to "get" a great filmmaker's deep dive into the abyss shown in a way that no other "holocaust film" has ever employed. Occupied City must be seen. Yes, the running time could have been edited down without losing much substance but the film's shear length and the calm non-ending clinical narrational approach is in itself a challenge to audiences and one of this work's great strengths.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/29/23

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Steve McQueen

Director

Melanie Hyams

Narrator

Bianca Stigter

Screenwriter

Floor Onrust

Producer

Steve McQueen

Producer

Anna Smith Tenser

Producer

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Synopsis

The past collides with our precarious present in Steve McQueen's bravura documentary Occupied City, informed by the book Atlas of an Occupied City (Amsterdam 1940-1945) written by Bianca Stigter. McQueen creates two interlocking portraits: a door-to-door excavation of the Nazi occupation that still haunts his adopted city, and a vivid journey through the last years of pandemic and protest. What emerges is both devastating and life-affirming, an expansive meditation on memory, time, and where we're headed.

Director: Steve McQueen
Producer: Floor Onrust, Steve McQueen, Anna Smith Tenser, Bianca Stigter
Screenwriter: Bianca Stigter
Distributor: A24
Production Co: September Film Distribution, Family Affair Films, Regency Enterprises, A24, Film4, Lammas Park
Rating: PG-13 (Smoking|Sexual Material|Brief Drug Use|Strong Language|Thematic Material)
Genre: Documentary, History, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 23, 2024
Runtime: 4h 0m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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