Photographic Memory

Released Oct 12, 2012

1h 24m

Documentary

List

94%

Tomatometer

18 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Filmmaker Ross McElwee returns to a seaside town in France where he spent time in his younger days, and reconnects with a former sweetheart.

Nicolas Rapold

Film Comment Magazine

In his latest film, the 65-year-old director retraces his postcollegiate wanderjahrs in France jobbing for a wedding photographer, in an earnest effort to understand his son Adrian, a headstrong, restless creative type and stunt skier.

Jul 1, 2013

Full Review

Frank Scheck

Hollywood Reporter

Filmmaker Ross McElee continues his obsessive self-reflection in this entertaining meditation on aging and memory.

Oct 15, 2012

Full Review

Peter Rainer

Christian Science Monitor

I would like to think that one day Adrian might look at this documentary and see it as a supreme act of paternal love.

Rated: A

Oct 12, 2012

Full Review

Brian Gibson

Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta)

In the end, the camera in Photographic Memory is not so much roving as at ease with itself, moving at its own pace, not shambling but ambling along, content in its own small, personal, unassuming search for meaning.

Sep 30, 2016

Full Review

Brett Michel

Boston Phoenix

Hoping to unlock not only the mysteries of his own past, but also to better understand the alienation he feels from his son, McElwee has forged another triumph in this portrait of fractured love.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 13, 2012

Full Review

Brent Simon

Shared Darkness

Beguiling and homespun -- full of both answers and questions, feelings and wonder. A great little travelogue mystery that also delicately assays the human condition.

Rated: B+

Nov 1, 2012

Full Review

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Audience Member

Any movie Ross McElwee makes is a movie I will love.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pensar que la vi en el macc hace full... muy buena...

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

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Ross McElwee

Director

Ross McElwee

Screenwriter

Marie-Emmanuelle Hartness

Screenwriter

Ross McElwee

Executive Producer

Marie-Emmanuelle Hartness

Executive Producer

Ross McElwee

Cinematographer

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Ross McElwee returns to a seaside town in France where he spent time in his younger days, and reconnects with a former sweetheart.

Director: Ross McElwee
Screenwriter: Ross McElwee, Marie-Emmanuelle Hartness
Distributor: First Run
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.0K
Runtime: 1h 24m