- 2013
- Zipporah Films
- 4 h 4 m
SummaryThe University of California at Berkeley, the oldest and most prestigious member of a ten campus public education system, is also one of the finest research and teaching facilities in the world. The film, At Berkeley, shows the major aspects of university life, its intellectual and social mission, its obligation to the state and to larger ideas o...
Directed By:Frederick Wiseman
At Berkeley
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
81
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
My Score
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Metascore
Universal Acclaim
81
80% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
20% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Nov 11, 2013
100
I can’t think of another film portrait of higher education that matches this one for comprehensiveness, intellectual depth, and hope.
Nov 6, 2013
100
An exhilarating, four-hour immersion in life at the University Of California campus.
Dec 5, 2013
88
The observations coalesce into a cogent whole, providing insights that are never overtly stated.
Sep 30, 2013
80
At times fascinating, at times not, its in-depth look at the administration, campus, students and faculty offers an insider's view into the way American academia functions.
Nov 6, 2013
60
At Berkeley works beautifully as a picture of compromised activism; viewers who summon the patience to commit to its indulgences won’t feel shortchanged, even if next year’s freshmen are.
Nov 8, 2013
50
At Berkeley casts a nonjudgmental eye on everyone from cement layers to students discussing Thoreau to administrators complaining about budgeting. If only everything were interesting.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
75% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
25% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Jan 21, 2014
8
Very good, classic Wiseman fly-on-the-wall documentary that covers many different aspects of UC-Berkeley. I wasn't very familiar with the instituation and now have a good feeling for it. I love that Wiseman doesn't restrict himself by making films too short, however this one is just SO long. It doesn't feel bloated, but unfortunately I just don't have the time/patience for one four-hour sitting. Overall very good film that is limited by time-based inaccessibility. Definitely a top 4 doc of the year for me (At Berkeley > The Square, Leviathan, Stories We Tell, We Steal Secrets, First Cousin, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars, The Gatekeepers, God Loves Uganda, After Tiller, Inequality for All, etc -- the only 3 I liked better: The Act of Killing, The Crash Reel and A Place at the Table)
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Nov 21, 2013
3
I don't know whether it's because those who reviewed this movie feel inadequate because they didn't go to college, but never have I seen a movie that is four hours in length actually seem like it was four years long, the duration of the undergraduate program there. This could EASILY have been a 90 minute infomercial, but instead they must have used every single frame and B roll that was shot. Nothing was additive about scenes of lawn mowing, bike riding, empty hallways, or people sweeping or blowing leaves...
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Awards
Venice Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
BFI London Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
