6.6 /10 1 Votes
63% Rotten Tomatoes Directed by Jeremy Workman Music by Karen Altman Initial release 22 March 2014 (Chicago) Screenplay Jeremy Workman | 7.6/10 IMDb 60% Metacritic Starring Al Carbee Edited by Jeremy Workman Director Jeremy Workman Music director Karen Altman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Jeremy Workman
Robert J. Lyons Cinematography Jeremy Workman
John Atherton Monroe
James G. Colston
Michael Lisnet Cast Al Carbee, Jeremy Workman, Astrid von Ussar Producers Jeremy Workman, Robert Lyons Similar No No: A Dockumentary, Give Me Shelter, The Other One: The Long - Str, Dawg Fight, Cyber Seniors Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Magical universe featurette director jeremy workman 2014 documentary hd
Magical Universe is a 2014 documentary film directed by filmmaker Jeremy Workman about reclusive outsider artist Al Carbee who created elaborate dioramas and collages featuring Barbie dolls. The title of the film is taken from Carbee's own voluminous writings about his wondrous art.
Contents
- Magical universe featurette director jeremy workman 2014 documentary hd
- Magical universe official trailer 2014 jeremy workman astrid von ussar documentary hd
- Synopsis
- Release
- Critical response
- Awards
- References
The film grew out of Workman's 2002 short film Carbee's Barbies and encompasses the final years of Carbee's life, at which point Workman became Carbee's closest friend and his only link to the outside world.
First presented at numerous film festivals, Magical Universe was released theatrically on October 31, 2014 with IFC FIlms.
Magical universe official trailer 2014 jeremy workman astrid von ussar documentary hd
Synopsis
Al Carbee is a true American original. An 88-year-old recluse living in Maine, he devotes nearly all his time to creating extraordinarily elaborate works of art from Barbie dolls. This captivating documentary, filmed over the course of the director's decade-long friendship with the artist, goes inside the mind of the enigmatic Carbee to reveal his rich, wondrous, and sometimes heart-wrenching inner-life. An eye-opening portrait of an all but unknown artist and an inspiring testament to the triumph of the creative spirit, Magical Universe is a moving tribute to a one-of-a-kind visionary.
Release
After winning several film festival awards, Magical Universe was acquired by theatrical distributors IFC Films and was released in theaters on October 31, 2014. It was subsequently made available on Netflix in May 2015.
In the summer of 2016, Magical Universe was featured at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris at the Louvre as part of their Barbie exhibit.
Critical response
Magical Universe has a 7.6 Rating on IMDB and 68% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In the Los Angeles Times, Michael Rechtshaffen described the film as an "whimsical... affectionate...A tender portrait of the artist as a weirdly gifted, wildly prolific, and strange man" and made the film a Los Angeles Times Critic's Pick. Lauren Wissot of Filmmaker Magazine suggested that the film is "crafted in a style that brings us practically inside the brain of the 88-year old outsider artist." And during the film's theatrical run in New York City, the Village Voice made it a Critics Pick with film critic Abby Garnett saying that Workman "captures the poignancy of Carbee's drive to create ideal images...This story is about tenderness and empathy."