A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (2006)

Critic Reviews

• Ty Burr, Boston Globe

  An eerily moving tone poem as hard to pin down as its subject.

• Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

  Combining contemporary interviews with Factory survivors and an astounding treasure trove of archival footage shot by Williams himself, the film is an enigmatic, atmospheric portrait of a guy apparently too nice for the notorious Warhol crowd.

• Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

  This is one for the Warhol archives, not theaters.

• V.A. Musetto, New York Post

  We'll probably never know what became of Williams, but his short life and mysterious disappearance make for diverting viewing.

• A.O. Scott, New York Times

  A Walk Into the Sea is Esther B. Robinson's documentary about Danny Williams, a former Harvard student who was a part of Andy Warhol's Factory scene.

• Jan Stuart, Newsday

  While there is nothing here that will surprise Warhol aficionados, Robinson's interpolation of her uncle's ephemeral, slo-mo images lends a haunting authenticity to the talking heads recollections.

• Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl

  ... if you can overlook [Robinson's] self-indulgent style, A Walk Into the Sea offers fascinating glimpses of the Warhol scene in the early 1960's.

• Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph

  Robinson is his niece and, though she affects a needlessly shaky, blurry style at times, she does her uncle's creative work justice.

• Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]

  Unsuprisingly, Robinson never really gets anywhere either, but her film at least gives a convincing flavour of the time.

• Wendy Ide, Times [UK]

  Two other documentaries are released this week at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. A Walk into the Sea, by Esther Robinson, is the better of the two.

• Holly Grigg-Spall, Film4

  Not what it wishes to be - it's actually a cautionary tale on the abuse of amphetamines.

• David Jenkins, Time Out

  First-time director Esther Robinson proves that a dash of subjectivity in documentary isn't always a bad thing, showing a remarkable clarity of vision and thirst for knowledge in her superb 'A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory'.

• Mark Keizer, Boxoffice Magazine

  A Walk into the Sea traps us in an odd and compelling purgatory, one that's unable to answer the central question of what happened to Williams, yet still resolves with its own sense of satisfaction.

• Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat

  Much more carefully shot and lit than most of the Factory output, [Williams's films] do suggest a talent and intelligence that might have led somewhere interesting.

• David Noh, Film Journal International

  What's shown is undeniably elegant, which unfortunately only points up Robinson's technical ineptitude.

• Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  In her search for her uncle, [director Esther] Robinson discovered something quite unexpected: A startlingly talented filmmaker.

• Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics

  Even if we don't expect to learn much new from another analysis of the irrational, the glimpses of the illusions of the Warhol period, and the work of Danny Williams, are not enough to keep this pic afloat.

• Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com

  The result of the interviews is the most vivid, and perhaps most damning, portrait of Warhol seen on film.

• Noel Murray, AV Club

  A Walk In The Sea is at its best when [director] Robinson contrasts the haziness of the Warhol crowd with the specificity of Williams' family, who can recall every anecdote he ever told them, including every perceived slight.

Read all 19 critic reviews