The Windmill Movie

2008

1h 22m

Documentary

List

86%

Tomatometer

21 Reviews

67%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

A profile reveals Dick Rogers' quest to leave a legacy.

Read More

Read Less

Critics Consensus

A haunting hybrid of documentary and fiction, The Windmill Movie presents a thoroughly unique and utterly compelling glimpse of a filmmaker's final days.

Read Critics Reviews

S. James Snyder

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Joe Williams

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Late in this meandering film, Rogers' romantic infidelities and the onset of illness add some much-needed dynamics, but even when it's just shooting the breeze, The Windmill Movie is captivating.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 30, 2009

Full Review

John Hartl

Seattle Times

Although the format will be familiar to fans of Tarnation and Capturing the Friedmans, the result comes closer to Fellini's autobiographical 8 1/2.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 23, 2009

Full Review

Jennifer Merin

About.com

In embracing Richard Rogers' style and adopting his tone, Alexander Olch creates a documentary that's as much a respectful, moving tribute to Rogers, as it is the projected realization of Rogers' intended cinematic autobiography.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 19, 2011

Full Review

Stan Hall

Oregonian

This movie should be unbearable; instead it's grotesquely fascinating. Rogers' striking early short Quarry precedes the main feature, demonstrating the man's considerable talent.

Jul 31, 2009

Full Review

Chris Faraone

Boston Phoenix

Unfortunately, a man died (from cancer) in the making of this explicitly introspective life tome; it was the only way he saw to complete his masterpiece.

Rated: 4/4

Jul 16, 2009

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

Even when it feels like it is just a meandering, self-indulgent mess -- there is something interesting that refuses to allow you to walk away. By the time Alexander Olch begins to form all of Dick P. Rogers' footage into a meaningful meditation on his life I was completely captivated. It is a slight of two hands -- one belonging to the artist who shot the footage and the second belonging to the artist who was once a student of the first. There is a sadness that looms over it all, but there is also a constant feeling of hope that never dies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Absolutely terrible.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fascinating movie about a man incapable of making a movie. Very cool how they tried to piece all the footage together and how compelling yet melancholy as well.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Voyeuristic and individually reflective, The Windmill Movie allows us to observe a prominent experimental filmmaker's life and the burdens he [Richard Rogers] confronted with his art and future. Alexander Olch does an excellent job of piecing together The Windmill Movie, allowing us to question our own ideologies while observing Rogers' fragmented world set in the lush Hamptons. The finished documentary is strikingly compelling and unique.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I donât know if you can get more âmetaâ than this film â a movie about a guy making a movie who spent his entire life making a movie that was never finished and is âfinishedâ here ... yeah, read it again slowly. If anything, this film just made me realize that envy isnât always a vice, sometimes it can actually be a virtue. I feel like this movie has been done before better but no examples are jumping to mind. Self-indulgent on both Olch's and Rogers' part.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This may well be the best film I have ever seen. At times during the showing I was close to panicking. It was that powerful and inspiring and mind blowing. I cannot recommend this film highly enough.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Alexander Olch

Director

Alexander Olch

Writer

Andrew Fierberg

Producer

David Grubin

Producer

Susan Meiselas

Producer

Richard P. Rogers

Cinematographer

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Critics Consensus: Year One Fails To Beget Laughs

View more photos

Synopsis

A profile reveals Dick Rogers' quest to leave a legacy.

Director: Alexander Olch
Producer: Andrew Fierberg, David Grubin, Susan Meiselas
Screenwriter: Alexander Olch
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Mar 22, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $27.4K
Runtime: 1h 22m