Karl Marx City

For the German city which formerly had that name, see Chemnitz.
Karl Marx City
Film poster
Directed byMichael Tucker
Petra Epperlein
Written byMichael Tucker
Petra Epperlein
Produced byMichael Tucker
Petra Epperlein
StarringPetra Epperlein
Christa Epperlein
Narrated byPetra Epperlein[1]
CinematographyMichael Tucker
Music byAlexander Kliment
Distributed byBond/360
Release date
  • 16 March 2017 (2017-03-16)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryGermany
LanguagesGerman
English
Box office$41,070[2]

Karl Marx City is a 2017 German documentary film, written, produced and directed by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein. The film was premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Synopsis

After her father commits suicide in 1999, filmmaker Petra Epperlein journeys through the former East Germany in search of answers.

Cast

  • Christa Epperlein
  • Douglas Selvage
  • Hubertus Knabe
  • Petra Epperlein
  • Udo Grashoff
  • Uwe Epperlein
  • Volker Epperlein

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 26 critics, with an average rating of 8/10.[3] On Metacritic, Karl Marx City has an above average score of 73 out of a 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

A.O. Scott of The New York Times called the documentary "unsettling" and added that "[it] is a smart, highly personal addition to the growing syllabus of distressingly relevant cautionary political tales".[5]

Scott Tobias of Variety has compared the film's atmosphere to the one of today.[6]

Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter, following the film's screening at Toronto International Film Festival, wrote: "a key joy of Karl Marx City is its strong, arty aesthetic".[7]

Slant Magazine's Jake Cole said that the lead heroine (Petra Epperlein), "[who have] personal ties to the subject matter[,] provides the documentary with a necessary anchor point".[8]

Ella Taylor of NPR wrote that "[the film] suffers now and then from the same breathy tendency to overdramatize already incendiary material that marred Epperlein and Tucker's 2005 Iraq doc[umentary] Gunner Palace.[9]

References

  1. ^ Chang, Justin (20 April 2017). "Review: 'Karl Marx City' chillingly revisits life in the shadow of East Germany". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Karl Marx City". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Karl Marx City (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Karl Marx City (2017)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. ^ Scott, A.O. (28 March 2017). "Review: 'Karl Marx City' Revisits the Everyday Terror of Dictatorship". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  6. ^ Tobias, Scott (21 September 2016). "Film Review: 'Karl Marx City'". Variety.
  7. ^ Dalton, Stephen (11 September 2016). "'Karl Marx City': Film Review - TIFF 2016". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  8. ^ Cole, Jake (26 March 2017). "Review: Karl Marx City". Slant Magazine.
  9. ^ Taylor, Ella (30 March 2017). "In The Documentary 'Karl Marx City,' A Grim But Enlightening Homecoming". NPR. Retrieved 9 July 2021.


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