The End of Time (2012 film)

The End of Time is a 2012 Swiss-Canadian documentary film written and directed by Peter Mettler on the loose subject of time.

The End of Time
Film poster
Directed byPeter Mettler
Produced by
Written byPeter Mettler
Narrated byPeter Mettler
Music by
  • Gabriel Scotti
  • Vincent Haenni
Cinematography
Edited by
  • Peter Mettler
  • Roland Schlimme
Production
company
Distributed byFirst Run Features (U.S.)
Release date
  • August 4, 2012 (2012-08-04) (LIFF)[1]
Running time
109 minutes
Country
  • Switzerland
  • Canada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$13,056 (US)[2]

Synopsis

Mettler interviews a range of people, including particle physicists at the Large Hadron Collider, DJ Richie Hawtin, an environmentalist, activists who seek to renovate Detroit, a hermit who lives on an island threatened by a volcano, and Indian Buddhists, who perform a funeral ritual. Each give their interpretation of what time is and what it means to them. The final interview subject, Mettler's mother, says that we must use what time we are given well.

Cast

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports an approval rating of 78%, based on nine critical reviews with an average rating of 7.58/10.[3] Metacritic rated it 56/100 based on six reviews.[4] Jay Weissberg of Variety wrote, "Intermittently interesting but more often pretentious, this sluggish exploration of time as real and conceived concepts rarely does more than regurgitate philosophical platitudes without locating the depth to make them interesting."[5] Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Any sense of narrative momentum or intellectual focus quickly unravels as the film evolves into an almost wordless symphony of disconnected images, sounds and music. But the nature-heavy montages are mostly beautiful and bizarre enough to excuse the film’s pretentious excesses."[6] Peter Howell of The Toronto Star rated it 3.5/4 stars and wrote, "Mettler makes a profound statement on what makes all of us tick."[7] Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail rated it 2.5/4 stars and wrote that the film "offers lots of opportunities to gaze and muse" but does not offer insights in the subject.[8] Miriam Bale of The New York Times called the film "a form of enforced meditation."[9] Eric Hynes of Time Out New York wrote, "Peter Mettler's ruminative, frequently astounding essay film doesn’t just contemplate this notion; it aims to cinematically embody it."[10] Calum Marsh of The Village Voice praised the cinematography but said that the film's pontificating is unnecessary.[11]

The film was included in the Toronto International Film Festival's list of "Canada's Top Ten" feature films of 2012.[12][13] It has been nominated for a 2013 Swiss Film Award for best documentary film, best film score, and best cinematography.[14]

References
  1. "First Run Features Buys 'The End of Time'". Indiewire. 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  2. "The End of Time". The Numbers. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  3. "The End Of Time (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. "The End of Time". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  5. Weissberg, Jay (2012-08-07). "Review: 'The End of Time'". Variety. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  6. Dalton, Stephen (2012-08-05). "The End of Time: Locarno Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  7. Howell, Peter (2012-12-11). "The End of Time review: The film that time forgot". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  8. Lacey, Liam (2012-12-11). "The End of Time: A doc that makes you conscious of time's slow passage". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  9. Bale, Miriam (2013-11-28). "The Many Shapes of Time". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  10. Hynes, Eric (2013-11-26). "The End of Time: movie review". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  11. Marsh, Calum (2013-11-27). "Peter Mettler's The End of Time Gets Poetic About the Nature of the Universe". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  12. "Polley, Cronenberg, Mehta films named to Canada's Top Ten". CBC.ca. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  13. "Canada's Top Ten Toasts the Nation's Best Films of 2012: Cronenberg, Polley, Nguyen and Mehta Among Filmmakers Recognized" (PDF) (Press release). TIFF. 2012-12-04. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-17.
  14. "Nominations for the 2013 Swiss Film Award". Swissfilmawawrd.ch. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
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