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Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

Play trailer Poster for Umberto Eco: A Library of the World 2023 1h 20m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 9 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Umberto Eco's private library was a world in itself: more than 30,000 contemporary books and 1,500 rare and antique volumes. The director had worked with Eco one year before the writer's death on a video project for the Venice Art Biennale in 2015, gaining access to the library. With the help of Eco's family he has now produced a documentary that describes a one-of-a-kind place, but also tries to catch and represent the universal idea of a library as "memory of the world", as Eco himself liked to describe it.
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Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

Critics Reviews

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Nicolas Rapold New York Times 06/29/2023
Exploring fictional worlds with Eco for a guide remains a diverting and often enlightening pursuit. Go to Full Review William Repass Slant Magazine 06/25/2023
3/4
The film becomes a timely epistemological rumination on the difference between knowledge and information, the relationship between memory and technology. Go to Full Review Anne Brodie What She Said 07/18/2023
4/4
Features 500-year-old volumes that look new, older books that look old, ancient drawings, charts, curiosities, magic spells, divination, elaborate jokes, the complete Charlie Brown, one featuring a glass receptacle on the spine holding dog’s testicles. Go to Full Review Chris Knight Original Cin 07/14/2023
A
The contemporary Italian philosopher, medievalist, critic, commentator and reluctant novelist comes to buoyant, engaging life in this look back at the man and his books, through the eyes of family and friends, and in the author’s own words. Go to Full Review Pat Mullen POV Magazine 07/13/2023
The cinematography by Andrea Zambelli and Andrea Zanoli captures the libraries lovingly. One can practically smell the wonderful mustiness of the old books. Go to Full Review Zach Lewis In Review Online 07/03/2023
Although the documentary shies away from a paint-by-numbers talking head format, the filmmaking instincts here are still all-too-familiar. That said, Eco’s words are indeed easy to follow, and his various lectures... are entrancing. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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David F @dfulmer 08/03/2024 This documentary about Umberto Eco focuses a lot on his books, which tended towards the old and eccentric. It gives an overview of the Italian intellectual’s career, features interviews with his family, and lot of interviews with the man himself over the years on all sorts of topics ranging from philosophy to popular culture. It was not comprehensive but like its subject it was intellectually stimulating and ranged over many different topics and themes. See more Read all reviews
Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

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Cast & Crew

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Davide Ferrario

Director

Umberto Eco

Self

Giuseppe Cederna

Self

Niccolò Ferrero

Self

Paolo Giangrasso

Self

Walter Leonardi

Self

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Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

Umberto Eco: A Library of the World (2022) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Umberto Eco's private library was a world in itself: more than 30,000 contemporary books and 1,500 rare and antique volumes. The director had worked with Eco one year before the writer's death on a video project for the Venice Art Biennale in 2015, gaining access to the library. With the help of Eco's family he has now produced a documentary that describes a one-of-a-kind place, but also tries to catch and represent the universal idea of a library as "memory of the world", as Eco himself liked to describe it.
Director
Davide Ferrario
Producer
Davide Ferrario, Francesca Bocca
Distributor
The Cinema Guild
Production Co
Ministero della Cultura (MiC), RAI Cinema, Rossofuoco, Film Commission Torino-Piemonte
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 30, 2023, Limited
Runtime
1h 20m
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