An uninhibited paean to the classroom and a rousing endorsement of the wider availability of higher learning, Wiseman's doc is a pedagogic experience to be thankful for.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 3, 2019

The feeling evoked by this fantastic swarm of activity, constructed around the life of the mind, has sustained me now for more than a half-century. Wiseman's documentary captures at least something of its wonder and also-alas-of its fragility.

| Mar 13, 2019

Indeed, in its implicit defense of educational democracy, At Berkeley is doubly didactic and one of Wiseman's most passionate films.

| Feb 22, 2019

[Director Frederick] Wiseman isn't a political filmmaker in any conventional sense... But as in "Crazy Horse," he expresses a clear, sometimes critical, point of view about his subjects.

| Feb 17, 2018

It's difficult to say that this isn't exactly the picture Wiseman wanted to make, flaws and all.

| Original Score: B+ | Jun 22, 2016

Wiseman is fearless about letting people speak long and uninterrupted and the truth is no longer reduced to cheap soundbites. Instead a slow picture builds of a California institution unlike any other.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 12, 2014

For once, Wiseman seems to be pushing a message, as he warns that a society that devalues learning will fatally undermine itself.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 12, 2014

At the venerable age of 84, documentary maven Wiseman hasn't lost his touch.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 11, 2014

Hypnotically edited and intellectually stimulating, At Berkeley doesn't feel a minute too long, even at four hours.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 11, 2014

Frederick Wiseman brings his insightful and layered filmmaking to one of America's most liberal institutions.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 11, 2014

Think a four-hour, narrative-free documentary in which we peep in on board meetings and lectures with unnamed bigwigs at one of America's most prestigious universities sounds boring? Well you'd be right about that, as it is.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 8, 2014

This is particularly useful stuff for anyone who works in higher education, and for documentary makers, but it holds rewards for anyone with the time and the stamina to take it on.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 8, 2014

It's not one of Wiseman's most memorable films, nor his most subtle, nor his most timeless, but it is one of his sharpest and most resonant thematic works.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 30, 2014

"At Berkeley" is an epic watch, but you certainly come out of there feeling like you've learned a lot.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 28, 2014

At Berkeley earns credit for documenting a distinctly articulate community.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 17, 2014

It's amazing how captivating all four hours are, and I wasn't able to take my eyes off of it.

| Original Score: A- | Jan 13, 2014

We can feel our IQ rising in the four hours we spend exploring the kaleidoscope of thought.

Full Review | Jan 9, 2014

The film contains numerous scenes showing higher education at its best.. But these moments are gradually overwhelmed by scenes of administrators dealing with an ongoing budget crisisdealing with an ongoing budget crisis.

| Jan 3, 2014

The fragility of public education looms in the background of every scene, but, as always, Wiseman proves a wizard at shutting up and listening and learning.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 2, 2014

Creates interesting juxtapositions between the differing concerns and pursuits of the faculty and student body, but your butt and your brain may find the excessive runtime equally punishing.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 23, 2013