Waste Land | Rotten Tomatoes (original) (raw)
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Critics Consensus
Waste Land begins with an eco-friendly premise, but quickly transforms into an uplifting portrait of the power of art and the dignity of the human spirit.
David Elliott San Diego Reader With Walker and cinematographer Dudu Miranda, Muniz has a hawk's eye for the weird beauty of bulldozed hillocks of trash and the catador faces that he chose to star in photographic portraits. Rated: 3/5 Nov 14, 2016 Full Review Philip French Guardian Muniz is a gifted, modest and altogether delightful man, and his project is both aesthetically fascinating and philosophically stimulating. Feb 28, 2011 Full Review Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard A well-made and often uplifting film that refuses to get angry yet still manages to point out that things aren't as they should be for a great many. Rated: 4/5 Feb 25, 2011 Full Review Brian D. Johnson Maclean's Magazine [Director Lucy] Walker's documentary is an eye-opening trip to a part of the world where garbage serves as liquid currency for people who salvage dignity from degradation with intelligence and grace. Mar 27, 2019 Full Review Oliver Sunley CineVue What shines through is the strength of the Brazilian landfill workers optimism and uplifting spirit which makes Waste Land more than worth watching. Rated: 4/5 Mar 2, 2019 Full Review Jeffrey Overstreet Image This conversion of garbage into humanitarian aid is just the beginning. Practical charity gives way to life-changing intimacy. Rated: A- Jun 12, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews
Born K Nominated for best documentary for the Academy in 2012. I don't know if I could be wrong but some of the the reviews here are very negative from those who live in Brazil. The point of view is valid from what people say negatively about documentaries, but I also agree with another aspect - in the same way that the impact of knowing that your painting is worth so much more than you as a person in a landfill, it also shows the perspective that things can be different if you believe and fight for it, no matter how small the fight - growing in literacy, courses, and other things that I don't think people read that changed on the lives of those shown as is stated at the end of the film. He didn't take advantage of these people's lives, I believe he had a purpose and followed through by donating the profits from sales back to them. Many times, to pursue something in life you need to have something to ignite the change in your perspective and that's what he at least tries to do, something most people don't even try (as several ones that criticize his work here). As a note, Jardim Gramacho was closed in 2012 after operating for 35 years and providing compensation to the collectors and the waste was sent to the Waste Treatment Center in Seropédica. The president of the collectors' association Tião fought for their rights, in numbers around 5,000 of them, to have investment in training for new roles in 15 years in addition to unemployment benefits and around 15 thousand reais in compensation for each one. In other words, it's not exactly like everyone returned to their previous life - or in other words, learn to research and read before giving opinions. Vik is not a dazzled one as many people try to portray him - the son of people from Pernambuco who migrated to São Paulo, he managed to attend FAAP and moved to NY in 1983 at the age of 22, speaking almost no English, after being shot in the leg by an accidental bullet while trying to help the victim of a fight at a party - took the compensation money received and went to live in suburban Chicago with a maternal aunt, working various minor jobs (as a butcher shop cleaner) until deciding to move to the East Village in NY looking for minor jobs associated with art until having their first success in 1988. Because of his dyslexia, Muniz's grandmother read him the Encyclopedia Britannica, the only book they had on the shelf. At age seven, Muniz could read but could not yet write and instead, he began to draw compulsively in his notebooks and developed a writing system that only he could understand. In 1975, at the age of fourteen, Vik Muniz earned money repairing televisions, and around the same time a teacher saw his drawings and recommended his participation in a state-sponsored arts festival held among public schools. As a result of his unparalleled talent, Muniz participated in this competition and won a partial scholarship to study at a drawing and sculpture academy (FAAP). As he recalls, his three years learning to draw and model geometric solids and nudes taught him almost everything about art. (content from arteref.com website). In other words, understanding the person's context helps to understand the work and the artist's original intention...or to learn to red what the pre credits scene did tell. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/05/24 Full Review Luiz M As a brazilian man, this film displayed the shocking but real situation of most of our people who live under extreme poverty. Crazy to think that art can turn everything around for those trash catchers as they get to know how to actually bring value into the world with garbage. Anything has value if you have the tools to transform. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/11/22 Full Review Audience Member It's simple, it's dynamic, yet carries the audience with interest and emotional investment. The story is beautiful, and the deeper artistic meaning, despite depending on each viewer, is reflective and genuinely pure. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the most powerful and meaningful film I have ever seen! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Rafael B I really dont know how this film didnt won an oscar. Its amazing!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/26/20 Full Review Audience Member Interesting look at poverty in Rio De Janeiro. Nothing stood out as spectacular about this documentary, but the photographer featured in it was pretty interesting. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Synopsis Located just outside Rio de Janeiro, Jardim Gramacho, Brazil, is the world's largest garbage landfill. Modern artist Vik Muniz works with the so-called catadores, the men and women who pick through the refuse, to create art out of recycled materials. Muniz selects six of the garbage pickers to pose as subjects in a series of photographs mimicking famous paintings. In his desire to assist the catadores and change their lives, Muniz finds himself changed as well.
Director
Lucy Walker, Karen Harley, João Jardim
Producer
Angus Aynsley
Distributor
Arthouse Films
Rating
PG
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 29, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$187.7K
Runtime
1h 38m
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