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Review: Rebirth

This 9/11 documentary skews toward easy emotional manipulation.

By Andrew Schenker

For a film whose title evokes new beginnings, this portrait of five people devastated by the 2001 terrorist attacks treads dangerously close to necrophilia. Intercutting decade-spanning interviews of the quintet with time-lapse footage of the in-progress Freedom Tower being built, this documentary treats the attacks with a brain-shrinking piousness more befitting a memorial dedication than a work of cinema. Even as the subjects detail the processes of grieving, healing and moving on, Whitaker continually strikes a tone of reverent mawkishness, further contributing to the notion that 9/11’s legacy continues to be one of easy, knee-jerk sentiment rather than wider understanding.

Follow Andrew Schenker on Twitter: @aschenker

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August 29, 2011

Comments

This was almost inevitable--like Pauline Kael's "Shoah" review, nobody wants to listen to criticism about a documentary that deals with such visceral, emotional subjects. No movie, no matter how well-intentioned, is above criticism. Why people can't draw a distinction between 9/11 and a film about 9/11 is beyond me. Making a 9/11 movie doesn't automatically give you a free artistic pass and grant you immunity from negative responses to your work. And just because you're passionate and earnest doesn't mean you're a good filmmaker. Nice work, Andrew.

By Christian (not verified) on 10/18/2011 at 9:57 am

What idiotic dribble... Just consider that for all your self-righteous nausea at Whitaker for the "easy, knee-jerk sentiment" that apparently offends you, the proper target of your scorn should be the participants in the film--Whitaker put a camera in front of them and let them speak over the years of recovery. If you want to label Ling's trials and pain as necrophilic, go for it boldly, but then don't be surprised that most consider you sub-human in your emotional and cognitive vocabulary.

By Michael Kessler (not verified) on 9/15/2011 at 10:43 am

this is a depressingly cynical, shallow review. my condolences to mr. schenker for his utter lack of emotional intelligence and wish him luck in his endeavors to become human.

By Anonymous (not verified) on 9/12/2011 at 1:22 pm

What a cheap, shallow review! Schenker is entitled to his opinions but he should at least offer some support for them. Simply throwing around words like mawkish, pious and 'dangerously close to necrophilia' doesn't make for intelligent reviewing. Tell us why you think ReBirth is all these things (if you must!) Someone please remind me never to read TimeOut New York's movies reviews, ever again.

By Anonymous (not verified) on 9/12/2011 at 2:32 am

An idiotic review by a shallow person who fails to see the hope and resilience beyond the terror, devastation and loss; and how that lesson transcends 9/11 and connects to other survivors of disasters. That is the point of this film. The "wider understanding" has and will be told in other places.

By Anonymous (not verified) on 9/03/2011 at 8:25 am

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