Palio | |
---|---|
Directed by | Cosima Spender |
Written by | John Hunt Cosima Spender |
Produced by |
James Gay-Rees John Hunt |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom Italy |
Language | Italian |
Palio is a 2015 British documentary film. Filmed in Siena, Italy, the film documents Palio di Siena, the oldest continually run horse race in the world that is held twice each year. [1] It is directed by Cosima Spender, and produced by James Gay-Rees and John Hunt. It was written by Hunt and Spender.
The documentary premiered on 18 April 2015 during the Tribeca Film Festival, [2] where it won Best Editing for a Documentary (Valerio Bonelli). It additionally received a nomination in the category for Best Documentary at the British Independent Film Awards. [3]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 20 critics, with an average rating of 7.5/10. [4] On Metacritic, the film have an above average score of 73 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [5]
Mike Hale in writing on the feature for a Tribeca film Festival roundup in The New York Times described it as " Rocky on Horseback". [6] Eight months later, another reviewer from The New York Times, Daniel M. Gold, reviewed the film and wrote that "Despite its oversights, the film — shot and scored beautifully — is an enthusiastic introduction to this delirious event and its peposo of passion, style and intrigue". [7]
Joe Leydon in reviewing the film in Variety said "Cosima Spender's entertaining documentary about a storied Italian horse race is as dramatically satisfying as the most crowd-pleasing scripted sports saga". [8]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called Palio, "[a] handsome-looking film". [9]