Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
85
(13 sources)
85
(13 sources)
-
100
The New York Times
A film of startling originality and beauty -- feels like a communiqué from another time, another place, anywhere but here. Read Full Review » -
100
San Francisco Chronicle
In the hands of visionary filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, this simple material makes for a haunting drama about war, generational relationships and the human condition. Read Full Review » -
100
-
90
Variety
Though he's sure to deny it, Alexandra is Alexander Sokurov's most directly political work for years. Featuring a performance of monumental depth by opera legend Galina Vishnevskaya, pic presents war for what it is: brutal, crushing, and ugly, and yet Sokurov doesn't lens any battles. Read Full Review » -
88
TV Guide
Never the most optimistic of poets, Sokurov does suggest the possibility of dialogue on the individual level, and the hope that by asking difficult questions of one another, these mortal enemies can find answers and reach an understanding everyone can live with. Read Full Review » -
88
Boston Globe
Alexandra is a pleasure to watch, but it's also one of those lovely, unclassifiable movies that flourishes better with repeated or prolonged exposures. Read Full Review » -
88
Chicago Sun-Times
The point is that for the soldiers, it's a dead zone, life on hold, a cheerless existence. And this plain-spoken old woman reminds them of a lifetime they are missing. Read Full Review » -
80
Chicago Reader
On its deepest level it considers not a particular war but the complex feelings between mothers and the young men they send out into the world to kill or be killed. Read Full Review » -
80
Los Angeles Times
The luminous humanity that characterizes the films of Alexander Sokurov is in full force in Alexandra. On the surface, it is a work of the utmost simplicity but is charged with the eternal complexities and contradictions of both love and war. Read Full Review » -
80
Village Voice
Spare yet tactile, a mysterious mixture of lightness and gravity, Alexander Sokurov's Alexandra is founded on contradiction. Musing on war in general and the Russian occupation of Chechnya in particular, this is a movie in which combat is never shown. Read Full Review » -
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Alexandra never depicts the soldiers in combat, but Sokurov nonetheless shows how war can break down the social structure, break down family, break the human soul. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
The frequent, mundane talks -- which Alexandra engages in with her grandson, Malika and the base camp's enlisted men -- are not so much about politics as they are about people. Read Full Review » -
67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The contrast of a warm maternal figure and a remote army outpost is undeniably affecting. But when Vishnevskaya opens her mouth, she spoils the mood. Read Full Review »
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