72
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Film ThreatPhil HallFilm ThreatPhil HallThis extraordinary work of cinematic art is among the most sublime, compelling and beautifully crafted films to grace the big screen.
- 100Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThis is a great companion piece to Hou's masterly "Flowers of Shanghai" and fresh evidence of his status as Taiwan's greatest filmmaker.
- 88New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe film is dark, both literally and figuratively. Only at the very end do we get a glimpse of the sun.
- 80The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasMillennium Mambo is a resolutely minor work, so enveloped in ennui that it never gets past the surface of things. But those surfaces are remarkable.
- 80L.A. WeeklyJohn PowersL.A. WeeklyJohn PowersJean-Luc Godard famously declared that all it takes to make a movie is a girl and a gun. Both turn up in Millennium Mambo, a ravishing bauble about la dolce vita in Taiwan, but frankly, the gun's an afterthought. This is a movie about the girl.
- 75Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisIf Millennium Mambo is the only chance to see Hou Hsaio-hsien's work at a movie theater, you'd better take it.
- 60The New York TimesElvis MitchellThe New York TimesElvis MitchellDespite its artistry, it seems to last nearly a millennium.
- 60Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanIn a sense, Millennium Mambo is a mildly prurient portrait of Shu moving, drinking, smoking, and changing clothes -- it's analogous to one of Andy Warhol's Edie Sedgwick films, but without the existential drama. Who really cares what costume this poor girl will wear to all tomorrow's parties?
- 40VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyA slow, empty, over-mannered snoozer that shows Taiwanese helmer Hou Hsiao-hsien asleep at the wheel.