- At Berkeley
It’s January, which means it’s time for “Stranger Than Fiction,” the Gene Siskel Film Center’s annual showcase of new documentaries. In this week’s Reader, we review two movies in the program, The Harvey Girls: Opportunity Bound and Kiss the Water (the second feature by Eric Steel, director of The Bridge). We also review Liv and Ingmar, a documentary about Ingmar Bergman’s on- and offscreen relationship with actress Liv Ullmann, which plays at the Siskel all week. This week’s long review covers yet another documentary feature screening at the Siskel, Frederick Wiseman’s epic At Berkeley, which I recently named my favorite movie of 2013. Wiseman (who turned 84 on Wednesday) is incontestably one of our country’s greatest living artists, and Berkeley is one of his most ambitious works to date. The movie may be four hours long, but don’t let that deter you—it has more to say about America today than anything else in theaters. Set aside the time and check it out.
