Waste Land (2010)

100% of critics liked it
(66 reviews)
92% of users liked it
(4,782 ratings)

Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores" --… More Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores" -- or self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz's initial objective was to "paint" the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both dignity and despair as the catadores begin to re-imagine their lives. Walker (Devil's Playground, Blindsight) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.-- (C) Official Site

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Lucy Walker
Genres: Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International

In Theaters: Oct 29, 2010 Limited
On DVD: Mar 15, 2011
Studio: Arthouse Films

Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
I do not mean to make their lives seem easy or pleasant. It is miserable work, even after they grow accustomed to the smell. But it is useful work, and I have been thinking much about the happiness to be found by work that is honest and valuable.
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
It's sheer pleasure watching Muniz work -- seeing him seized by mad impulses of delight.
Stephanie Merry, Washington Post
"Waste Land" is a testament that things can go from good to bad in an instant. But they can also improve just as quickly.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
It's not a very good title, Waste Land - this isn't a bleak film, at all - but just about everything else in Lucy Walker's documentary works, and illuminates.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
"Waste Land" is a film about recycling, but it's far more intriguing than the average eco-documentary.
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
"Waste Land'' is just what the film's website says it is: "stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.''
Simon Foster, sbs.com.au
The breadth of gratitude these catadores feel towards Muniz and the life-experience they undertake makes for an intelligent, emotional movie.
Dan Jardine, Cinemania
Waste Land is a real treasure, the sort of heartwarming and life affirming study of people, lacking in both sentimentality and cynicism, that uplifts the audience and elevates the art form
Graham Young, Birmingham Post
Waste Land fuses the design concepts behind two of the most high-profile animations of recent years, Rio and the Oscar-winning Wall-E, into an essay about how hard some people are prepared to work.
Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
A tasteful, appropriate presentation of a canny, entertaining, and, yes, moving art-reform doc.
Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star
The result is a film that works on multiple levels, casting light on a worldwide problem while delivering a big jolt of human hope.
Philip French, Guardian [UK]
Muniz is a gifted, modest and altogether delightful man, and his project is both aesthetically fascinating and philosophically stimulating.
Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express
It's inspiring, humbling and beautifully made.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
A well-made and often uplifting film that refuses to get angry yet still manages to point out that things aren't as they should be for a great many.
Sophie Ivan, Film4
More self-conscious, subtle exploration than the dubious bleeding-heart PR stunt implied by its premise.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
The glimpses of favela life will make you thank your lucky stars you weren't born there.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Well made and impressively structured, this is a heartwarming, genuinely inspirational and ultimately deeply moving film that has deservedly picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary.
Jason Goodyer, Little White Lies
Perhaps not life-changing but certainly life-affirming.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
This is undoubtedly a bold raid into an unknown territory - both geographic and conceptual - that the prosperous classes prefer not to think about.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
Walker finds inspiration and strange beauty in the squalor.

Read all 25 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Pedro H

 What happens in the world's largest trash city will transform you. Magnificent A touching documentary that truely depicts a great artist and humanitarian. I loved the movie from start to end and it moved me deeply.… More
 What happens in the world's largest trash city will transform you. Magnificent A touching documentary that truely depicts a great artist and humanitarian. I loved the movie from start to end and it moved me deeply. Overall I highly recommend everyone to watch this movie, its amazing, and beautiful! Watch it! Zumbi: "We have to think about the future because I don't want my son to be a picker. Although if he is, I'd be very proud... But I'd rather he be a lawyer to represent the pickers, you know."
Carlos M

A powerful and extremely moving documentary that delves into the creative process of an artist and shows how art can really change people. The most fascinating though about this involving real story is to see the deep and unexpected relationship that grows between the artist and the… More
A powerful and extremely moving documentary that delves into the creative process of an artist and shows how art can really change people. The most fascinating though about this involving real story is to see the deep and unexpected relationship that grows between the artist and the people that are the subject of his unlike creation.
Rubia Carolina .

Waste Land is a documentary about the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and his "social work" with workers from the garbage dump Jardim Gramacho. All that poverty is heartbreaking and outrageous in a country with absurd social differences where a few people have a monthly wage… More
Waste Land is a documentary about the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and his "social work" with workers from the garbage dump Jardim Gramacho. All that poverty is heartbreaking and outrageous in a country with absurd social differences where a few people have a monthly wage that could save lot of families. At the end of the film I could only think how unfair the situation is - Muniz had an amazing and beautiful gesture, but the real changes in the community and their lives were minimal - and felt like that Boris's quote*: "But what do you do? You read about some massacre in Darfur or some school bus gets blown up, and you go "Oh my God, the horror," and then you turn the page and finish your eggs from the free range chickens. Because what can you do? It's overwhelming!". Because, what can we do? As the Brazilian filmmaker João Moreira Salles says, it would be an illusion to think that a documentary can change the world and its characters. Vik Muniz did his part and it must be enough. Other films had already explored this theme like Ilha das Flores (Isle of Flowers, by Jorge Furtado) and Estamira (directed by Macros Prado), both stronger than Waste Land**. This documentary is important to both social and artistic worlds, but it's quite normal as a film. The soundtrack, composed by Mody, sounds superficial and too much melodramatic sometimes. The same happens to some scenes like the one where Vik Muniz, alone in his place, looks to the world globe in his hands with a desolate expression. It's one of those poor scenes where we can almost listen the director saying: take the globe in your hands, look at it, make a sad face, you miss those people, yes, like that, good, that's it . Cut. * Whatever Works, by Woody Allen. **There's also the documentary Boca de Lixo, directed by Edurado Coutinho, that I haven't seen yet.
Walter M

As related in the documentary "Waste Land," the best thing that ever happened to artist Vic Muniz was being shot when he was younger. The pay off allowed him to go to America where he could pursue his dreams of being an artist and has succeeded by using found materials.… More
As related in the documentary "Waste Land," the best thing that ever happened to artist Vic Muniz was being shot when he was younger. The pay off allowed him to go to America where he could pursue his dreams of being an artist and has succeeded by using found materials. Now, he wants to apply the same approach in returning to his home country of Brazil to create art around the giant garbage dumps in and around Rio de Janeiro, not without a little danger from the nearby favelas. At this point, it is not explained why his wife does not handcuff him to the radiator to prevent him from going. But what he does find in Jardim Gramacho is a great deal of community and camaraderie amongst the thousands of recyclers, which the women prefer to the alternative of drugs and prostitution. This inspires him to give back to the workers by making portraits(my favorite being the Marat pose), while also giving them the proceeds from the sale. "Waste Land" is insightful in giving us a close-up of a rarely seen part of Brazil, and at the same time through the art and publicity exposing it to the wealthy citizens of the country. On a general note, it reminds us of how much we throw out on a daily basis and what can be recycled while also on a metaphorical note that no human being is ever disposable. However, I think the documentary errs by bending over backwards in trying to give a positive spin to the workers' lives, despite the dangers and hard and dirty work involved. And Muniz, whose own story takes a back seat, is to be commended for what he does, even as it is only a drop in a very large ocean.
Lesley N

Enthralling documentary about some recycling workers on the worlds largest landfill and a Brazillian photographer who decides to make art with them and of them. Their jobs are smelly and undervalued, and most live in the onsite shanty town but as one single mother says "… More
Enthralling documentary about some recycling workers on the worlds largest landfill and a Brazillian photographer who decides to make art with them and of them. Their jobs are smelly and undervalued, and most live in the onsite shanty town but as one single mother says " It's better than being out there, like a lot of people, prostituting yourself." For the latest update, see http://www.wastelandmovie.com/catadores.html <img src="http://www.hellocoolworld.com/media/HelloCoolWorld/wasteland1.jpg">