“I’ve watched the five-and-a-half-hour Carlos twice now, and am completely convinced that it’s a great film, in serial caps, as it were; and looking at Assayas’ other work, I’m growing in my conviction that Assayas isn’t just one of the most vital filmmakers working today, but that he’s one for the books, as the saying goes — a major figure in his country’s cinema, and world cinema.” — Some Came Running‘s Glenn Kenny in a 10.13 posting.

“It isn’t that Mr. Assayas doesn’t have strong opinions, only that because he wants to move beyond familiar axioms — Carlos the monster, Carlos the cool — he shows history as it’s happening, active and dynamic, rather than how it will be subsequently narrated. Those opinions come through forcefully and at times, with such bluntness, it can throw you.” — N.Y. Times critic Manohla Dargis in a 10.15 posting.