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The Windmill Movie

Play trailer Poster for The Windmill Movie 2008 1h 22m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A profile reveals Dick Rogers' quest to leave a legacy.
The Windmill Movie

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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.

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Critics Reviews

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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 Reviews

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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 don’t know if you can get more “meta” than this film – a movie about a guy making a movie who spent his entire life making a movie that was never finished and is “finished” here ... yeah, read it again slowly. If anything, this film just made me realize that envy isn’t 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
The Windmill Movie

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

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