Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
critic Reviews
, 95% Certified Fresh Tomatometer Score- Recorder: The Marion Stokes Story uses one person's singular quest to illuminate the blurred line between brilliance and obsession.
- , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreSimran HansObserver (UK)
Stokes is a fascinating, elusive protagonist - she was a recluse who enjoyed daily martinis and felt a kinship with Steve Jobs. Yet Wolf treats her archive with reverence, rather than writing her off as an eccentric.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreRogan GrahamLittle White Lies
Dips in the second half but well worth your time.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreDanny LeighFinancial Times
Obsession, intellect, consumerism, conspiracy, all are here - and encompassing them is the white noise of the mass media, the bedlam hum of 24-hour television news.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScorePeter BradshawGuardian
This documentary shows Stokes to have the fanatical energy of a hoarder, the zeal of an evangelist and the intensity of a visionary.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreAdam GrahamDetroit News
"Recorder" shows the link between Stokes' brilliance and her craziness, and the damaging effects of obsessive behavior to the quality of a life lived. She was documenting the story, but "Recorder" shows how, in a way, she became the story.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreAlexandra Heller-NicholasFilm International
In Recorder, Wolf paints a compelling portrait of a woman whose unambiguous hoarding tendencies made it difficult to identify her enormously valuable media archival project as anything beyond yet another obsession
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreChristopher MachellCineVue
It is, of course, of immense archival value, but the effect of the sheer weight of such a vast store of media, layered upon itself like an enormous cake of pure information, is far more metaphysical than mere archival utility.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreCarla HayCulture Mix
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, which is skillfully directed by Matt Wolf, is an example of the type of documentary that can be a true hidden gem.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreRich JuzwiakThe Muse/Jezebel
The documentary is at its best when it contrasts how Stokes's recording was received at the time versus how the value of her work has appreciated.
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreDan ScullyCinema76
Recorder could have easily withstood the inclusion of an additional 25 minutes of material, if only to make these two disparate half-movies into a more complete profile of an under-appreciated mind.
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