79
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanEvery so often, you’ll see a portrait-of-the-artist documentary that’s so beautifully made, about a figure of such unique fascination, whose art is so perfectly showcased by the documentary format, that when it’s over you can’t believe the film hadn’t existed until now. It feels, in its way, essential. Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV is like that.
- 90Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganThere’s a great deal of charm and humour to Paik’s work, and to this film, but it’s anchored by his perceptiveness and ability to contemplate weighty themes – and, yes, to anticipate the future.
- 83Original-CinJim SlotekOriginal-CinJim SlotekAmanda Kim’s admiring documentary Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV, makes a case that Paik may not have merely been one of the most influential of the avant garde, he may have been one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century - period, one who invented a new visual canvas.
- 80The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldPaik is undeniable, creating despite lean times (and slowing after a 1996 stroke).
- 80Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonWall Street JournalJohn AndersonMs. Kim strives to remain true to her subject’s sensibilities—her imagistic narrative amounts to energetic homage—and this includes not romanticizing his life.
- 75RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsRogerEbert.comSimon AbramsMore detailed critical or historical context might have enhanced director Amanda Kim’s already informative and loving portrait of Korean video artist Nam June Paik. But there’s so much in Kim’s movie—especially in actor Steven Yeun’s voiceover narration and talking head interviews with Paik’s colleagues and contemporaries—that this account of Paik’s working life still resonates.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerFor anyone interested in the origins of what we now call video art, not to mention mass media and the internet, it’s essential viewing. Paik was a true visionary who foresaw the virtual world we now live in, and Kim’s film chronicles how he channeled that vision through madcap sculptures and installations that took technology to places it was never meant to go.
- 67The PlaylistChristian GallichioThe PlaylistChristian GallichioWhile Kim’s encyclopedic dive may not offer much revelatory information, it nevertheless acts as an insightful and streamlined primer into Paik and his work, allowing fellow artists and critics the time and space to speak about Paik and the radical shift towards video art.
- 50Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThe film might have benefited from taking a page out of Nam June Paik’s Zen for Film and slowed down its flow.