I’m Going Home (2001)
83%RT Audience Score: 68%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 5 nominations
Manoel de Oliveira’s “I’m Going Home” is a cinematic masterpiece that captures the essence of daily life and the power of images to preserve it. The film is an unsentimental meditation on the ambiguous present, on aimlessness, isolation, and infirmity, which is a rarity in films about old age. The elliptical yet perceptive storytelling style of the film is stylistically adventurous and subtly powerful. Michel Piccoli’s performance as the protagonist is the film’s beating heart, and the realistic look at the ways in which mortality plays into the conscious and subconscious plans of the living is poignant. It’s a minor film with major pleasures that touches on greatness, and there’s something remarkable about an artist of 90-plus years taking the effort to share his impressions of life and loss and time and art with us.
I’m Going Home” is a film that’s like a fine wine – it gets better with age. And speaking of age, the director, Oliveira, was in his nineties when he made this movie. Can you believe it? The film is a meditation on life, death, and everything in between. It’s not a celebration of youth or a lament of old age, but rather a realistic look at the human experience. The performances are top-notch, especially Michel Piccoli’s, who is the heart of the film. Overall, “I’m Going Home” is a quiet masterpiece that will leave you thinking long after the credits roll.
Production Company(ies)
Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2001
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):French, English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Aug 19, 2003
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
I’m Going Home, Comedy, Drama, 2001, French (Canada), 1h 30m, starring Michel Piccoli, Antoine Chappey, Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich, Leonor Baldaque, Leonor Silveira, directed by Manoel de Oliveira, written by Manoel de Oliveira, produced by Paulo Branco, reviewed by Richard Brody, Steven D Greydanus, Susan Stark, John Hartl, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Carla Meyer, Steve Erickson, Dennis Schwartz, Emanuel Levy, Jake Euker, Shawn Levy, MPAA rating not specified, exploration of mortality, small meaningful routines, end of career, daily life, power of images, old age, unsentimental meditation, aimlessness, isolation, infirmity, stylistically adventurous, subtly powerful, realistic look at mortality, poignant, Portuguese master, minor film with major pleasures, Gilbert Valence, George, Marguerite, Sylvia, Marie
Worldwide gross: $853,526
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,438,438
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,503
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 156,863
US/Canada gross: $140,872
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $237,410
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,511
US/Canada opening weekend: $12,024
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $20,264
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,507
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): FRF 18,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Antoine Chappey – George
Catherine Deneuve – Marguerite
John Malkovich – John Crawford
Leonor Baldaque – Sylvia
Leonor Silveira – Marie
Director(s)
Manoel de Oliveira
Writer(s)
Manoel de Oliveira
Producer(s)
Paulo Branco
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 5 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (55) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (2)
Oliveira, a nonagenarian when he made the film, conveys the hidden rapture of daily life-and the power of images to preserve it.
May 26, 2020
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
A rarity, a film about old age that is neither a celebration or lament of of lost youth, nor an anticipation of impending death, but simply an unsentimental meditation on the ambiguous present, on aimlessness, isolation, and infirmity.
September 25, 2003 | Rating: A-
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films
TOP CRITIC
Elliptical as it is perceptive.
November 27, 2002 | Rating: 3/4
Susan Stark
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
Stylistically adventurous.
November 22, 2002 | Rating: 3/4
John Hartl
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
The kind of quiet masterpiece that fully registers only after you’ve seen it.
November 15, 2002 | Rating: 4/4
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Subtly powerful.
November 1, 2002 | Rating: 3/4
Carla Meyer
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
[Michel] Piccoli’s performance is the film’s beating heart.
March 4, 2019
Steve Erickson
Nashville Scene
An understated film that touches on greatness.
August 28, 2012 | Rating: A
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
July 2, 2005 | Rating: 4/5
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
a realistic look at the ways in which mortality plays into the conscious and subconscious plans of the living
July 16, 2004 | Rating: 4.5/5
Jake Euker
Filmcritic.com
There’s something poignant about an artist of 90-plus years taking the effort to share his impressions of life and loss and time and art with us.
February 7, 2003
Shawn Levy
Oregonian
A minor film with major pleasures from Portuguese master Manoel de Oliviera…
November 21, 2002 | Rating: B
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer…
Plot
After an elderly actor’s wife, daughter, and son-in-law are killed in a car accident, he struggles to hold onto the meaningful routines of his life while caring for his orphaned grandson. As he considers the end of his career, he takes a role in a film directed by an American and meditates on the ambiguous present of old age.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Michel Piccoli’s performance in I’m Going Home is described as the film’s “beating heart” by San Francisco Chronicle critic Carla Meyer.
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