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VIDEO RELEASE
Aug 12, 2003 (VHS)
Aug 12, 2003 (DVD)
CONSENSUS
Grueling but honest depiction about the ravages of Alzheimer's. Yep, it's a downer.
CAST & CREW
Viveka Seldahl, Sven Wollter, Reine Brynolfsson
Directed by Bille August
more...
SYNOPSIS
Danish director Bille August's (PELLE THE CONQUEROR) touching tale is about finding a great love and losing it too quickly. more...
MPAA RATING
PG-13, for sexuality, thematic elements and some language
RUNTIME
1 hour, 59 minutes
RELEASE DATES
Theatrical: Jun 28, 2002
RELEASE COMPANY
First Look
GENRE
Dramas, Romance, Love Affairs, Composers
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TIDBITS
SUBMIT/EDIT ARTICLE
SUBMIT USER REVIEW
FORUM
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 "Often gruelling and heartbreaking to witness, but Seldahl and Wollter's sterling performances raise this far above the level of the usual maudlin disease movie."
-- Jason Anderson, EYE WEEKLY
"An extraordinary Swedish film about the soul adventure of marriage -- the kind of intimate and character-driven film that Bille August does best."
-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH
"August -- a pupil of Ingmar Bergman's -- manages to tell a tragic tale while avoiding the heavy-laden angst of a Bergman film."
-- Tricia Deering, BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE
"A touching examination of the ravages of Alzheimer's disease."
-- Ken Fox, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE
"A wrenching film about a romance between two people in their fifties, shattered when one becomes the victim of Alzheimer's disease."
-- Harvey S. Karten, COMPUSERVE
"Director-writer Bille August ... depicts this relationship with economical grace, letting his superb actors convey Martin's deterioration and Barbara's sadness -- and, occasionally, anger."
-- Sean Means, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
"It may sound like a mere disease-of- the-week TV movie, but A Song For Martin is made infinitely more wrenching by the performances of real-life spouses Seldahl and Wollter."
-- Rene Rodriguez, MIAMI HERALD
 "It's so downbeat and nearly humorless that it becomes a chore to sit through -- despite some first-rate performances by its lead."
-- Jeff Vice, DESERET NEWS, SALT LAKE CITY
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FRESH 73%
Avg. Rating: 7.4/10 |
"Seldahl's Barbara is a precise and moving portrait of someone whose world is turned upside down, first by passion and then by illness."
-- Leslie Camhi, VILLAGE VOICE
"Full of unforgiving irony and quiet realism, A Song for Martin stands as a powerful and moving achievement."
-- Robert Denerstein, DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
"More honest about Alzheimer's disease, I think, than Iris."
-- Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"The movie, for all its sincerity, becomes clinical and repetitious, though its unsparing vision of the fragility of identity can give you a shudder."
-- Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"Mr. Wollter and Ms. Seldhal give strong and convincing performances, but neither reaches into the deepest recesses of the character to unearth the quaking essence of passion, grief and fear."
-- Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES
"The strength of the film lies in its two central performances by Sven Wollter as the stricken composer and Viveka Seldahl as his desperate violinist wife."
-- Kirk Honeycutt, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"From its invitingly upbeat overture to its pathos-filled but ultimately life-affirming finale, Martin is a masterfully conducted work."
-- Lael Loewenstein, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"I'm giving it thumbs down due to the endlessly repetitive scenes of embarrassment. There's got to be a more graceful way of portraying the devastation of this disease."
-- Richard Roeper, EBERT & ROEPER
"An almost unbearably morbid love story."
-- Andrew Sarris, NEW YORK OBSERVER
"This slow-moving Swedish film offers not even a hint of joy, preferring to focus on the humiliation of Martin as he defecates in bed and urinates on the plants at his own birthday party."
-- Megan Turner, NEW YORK POST
"Viveka Seldahl and Sven Wollter will touch you to the core in a film you will never forget -- that you should never forget."
-- Michael Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
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* Who are the Approved Tomatometer Critics?
* Mouse over a tomato icon for a publication's original rating. Original rating not available for every publication.
* In fairness to critics whose last name begins with a letter at the end of the alphabet, certain pages are sorted in reverse order, z-a.
* Certain "A Song for Martin" article data provided by the Movie Review Query Engine.
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mikecandance
| In my bedroom, you'll find: "Plates and cups from midnight snacking, taped episodes of the Golden Girls and a body pillow shaped like a catfish." |
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