Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Thelly Nious I absolutely loathe performance art and the pretentiousness that comes with it. If fact, aside from movies and some abstract pieces, I am not all that interested in art. However, it is impossible not to like this film. Abramovic is hypnotic throughout and the film editors do a great job of cutting out virtually all of the annoyances that sometimes plague these types documentaries. I am a simple-minded person who enjoys beer, boxing and cars. I do not know my wines nor am I an avid NY Times reader. But, one thing I am sure of is that you will love this film. Just give it 15 minutes and you will be hooked.

Blake Peterson Marina Abramović isn't generally a name that rolls off your tongue when listing your favorite artists, but after viewing "The Artist Is Present", she may as well be the very first person that comes to mind. When classifying "artists", most point in the direction of Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein — we forget about performance artists, as most of us aren't pretentious enough to consider ourselves a part of the "art" world. Save for Portland hipsters and eclectic New Yorkers, most don't know who the hell Marina Abramović is or why she is so damn interesting. I had never heard of her until a few days ago, when she made national headlines accusing Jay-Z of failing to donate to the Marina Abramović foundation after co-starring in his "Picasso Baby" music video."The Artist Is Present" is a fascinating watch for both newcomers and Abramović admirers, giving us an inside look into the process of her 2010 exhibit of the same name while providing a background, or, an introduction, if you will, to her performing art past. Touching on her controversial "Rhythm" series of the 1970s and her artistic and personal relationship with Ulay, the documentary is as educational as it is emotionally satisfying. We can appreciate Abramović's contributions to our culture just as much as we can connect with her as a vulnerable human being doing what they love.Abramović has made a career out of using her body as means of artistic expression, testing her physical and intellectual limits on a regular basis. She has run into walls (for hours), cut, whipped and mentally disabled herself, exposed her naked body to the world — and yet, these are only a few characteristics of her long career (and vaguely detailed I might add). Abramović's willingness to submit to inescapable pain for the sake of performing is startling. One might initially cast aside her experiments, considering them to be laughable, strange, perhaps even an excuse to commit self-harm. The documentary, though, adds a dimension unseen by most, making her projects all the more admirable. "The Artist Is Present" has a plentiful number of interviews to add to our reverence, and goes just deep enough into Abramović's past to give us a sort of idea as to why she does what she does. But the most enjoyable aspects of the documentary are not the clinical studies nor the final act, which focuses on the bewildering exhibit. Most gratifying is seeing Abramović behind the scenes, living as a normal woman, with a sense of humor, to boot, who just so happens to have a job most would never dream of. This is a hugely pleasurable documentary, yet I want more. I want to delve into Abramović's unhappy childhood with more gusto, to get an even closer look into the mind-blowing years spent with Ulay. For now, though, this will have to do, and that isn't a bad thing.

anz10 I have heard of Marina Abramovic but didn't know much about her and was scared it would all be a bit pretentious or she wouldn't be any good or to my taste, (even though I like modern art, but not all of it of course) but I found her truly inspiring, not only that but she is truly down to earth and real, she truly believes in her work and went to great lengths for her art and still does, her life story is telling of this and very engrossing. The exercises she puts the young people through whom she entrusts with reproducing her work for her exhibition, also shows just how much she digs into her own being to give back to others in her art and to her students. I guess I was scared performance art wouldn't live up to what I expected it to be. Whether or not you appreciate her art is not really the point to me, although many people do, it's more important that it comes from a genuine place and that to me makes is true expression, you cannot argue with that. The most touching part of the documentary for me however, was definitely her piece for the exhibition. Marina sat in a chair (initially with a table in between her and the person) in silence for three months, only looking up when a member of the public sat in a chair opposite her. This is no easy feat if you consider we can't even be still for 5mins without back pain or needing to check our iPhones. The intensity and genuine affection/serenity/love and calm she gives each and every individual is deeply moving. She gives each person the attention they deserve, it moved me to tears several times, as it did some of the people sitting opposite her. It made me question just how much we truly "see" each others, or even whether we even really try often enough, how much do we truly care about someones true self and feelings, how many times do we get that attention from someone else, how many lonely people there are in the world. It also made me consider what true connection, love and acceptance can do for the human soul and for the serenity of the world in general and that we are all seeking love. The power of Buddhism and it's principles really do come to light in her work in a very real way. It's made me want to be more accepting of others and myself, it's also made me realise just how deep the need for connection truly goes. Her observation that she becomes someone's mirror and that she can feel people's pain and feelings in a gaze, was telling. I now understand even more deeply how important my need for connection truly is and how it affects me emotionally. Connecting to yourself, others and your "art" or whatever makes you happy is more important than ever in this super busy hyper world, be still and re-focus :)

dragokin Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present is a rather detailed documentary about the exhibition of the same name at MoMA in 2010. It won't change your opinion about it, though. Whether you agree that Marina is the "grandmother of performance art" or you feel that contemporary art is nothing but hot air, those points of view are left unchallenged.There is little background information about the artist, which should be standard for a movie determined to address a much wider audience than art aficionados. So we're left with a lot of people asserting Marina's importance for the history of arts and some archive footage to corroborate that.There's no doubt The Artist Is Present is as a milestone for the arts of the 21st century, but at this point a movie about it is just another documentary.By the way, my favorite moment is when in the background of an interview a visitor to the exhibition asked which one of the two sitting was Marina. How imperceptible must you be to visit a museum where walls of each room are covered with photos and videos of the artist and not recognize her? Or was it just another consumer who's been told not to miss the event? After all, someone in the movie mentioned "market for Marina's work" and she admitted liking life's simple pleasures, such as shopping designer clothes in Paris...