75
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorTo watch German documentarian Thomas Heise’s marathon family memoir Heimat is a Space in Time, the viewer has to continually analyze the relationship between text and image.
- 83The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakWe learn everything there is to know about an entire country through the Heise family’s words. Some passages prove better than others, but none are inconsequential to the whole.
- 80Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleIn its extreme length and precise technique, it’s decidedly not for everybody. But although it is at times distractingly opaque, occasionally Heise’s family’s words, juxtaposed with his sounds and images, crystallize into something singularly wise about the nexus of place, history and trauma.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichThe Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichHeimat certainly has the feel of a summative work
- 80VarietyScott TobiasVarietyScott TobiasThe overall effect of Heise’s work is mesmeric, persuasive and cumulatively powerful, as each piece of the puzzle falls into place and he lands on overarching insights into a German century and what it portends for the future.
- 75Slant MagazineCarson LundSlant MagazineCarson LundThomas Heise’s documentary seeks to excavate real human thought and feeling beneath the haze of larger political structures.
- 63RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmRogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmIf this material were compiled into a book, it would be rightfully deemed great literature. As featured in Heise’s film, however, these insightful words are frequently marred by a style oddly akin to a mournful podcast, one that requires listeners to repeatedly peer at their phone to read the subtitles.
- 60The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergDespite some tedious passages, Heimat Is a Space in Time takes an intriguing approach to history that remains refreshingly rooted in primary sources.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawI was sometimes captivated but often frustrated by this epic essay-film, a meditation on Germany and his own family history that is stark, fierce, austerely cerebral and almost four hours long.