70
Metascore
5 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenIt all has a ghostly feel, like eerie murmurs during a séance: the static of history heard on a short-wave radio.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe surreal images lack narration and talking heads, which is no problem. In fact, the device makes the shocking footage more compelling.
- 70VarietyVarietyTold without voiceover, explanatory subtitles or any other contextualizing material, Russian docu Blockade looks unlikely to show up on the History Channel as it stands now. Nevertheless, this absorbing account of the 900-day siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during WWII, told entirely through re-edited archive footage with freshly made sound, reps poignant viewing as it focuses on the daily lives of the city's inhabitants.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceLoznitsa doesn't adorn the eerie footage with talking heads and factoid title cards. What narrative there is, along with a sense of incrementally mounting horror, emerges unbidden from the images.
- 63New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsThe film makes you squirm as well as empathize, but it does need narration.