Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Encyclopedia
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky is a Russia
n-born United States
-based film critic and essayist. He works as a critic for the film website Mubi.com and is an occasional contributor to the Chicago Reader.
Vishnevetsky co-hosts Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies, a nationally syndicated film criticism
television show, with Christy Lemire
.
, U.S.S.R., the son of Russian poet Igor Vishnevetsky
, and moved to the United States
at the age of 8, following his parents' divorce.
He lived with his father, stepmother, and stepbrother in Decatur, Georgia
, and, four years later, relocated to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
, where he graduated from Wauwatosa East High School
and then moved to Chicago
, where he briefly attended Columbia College Chicago
, studying Film Directing.
Before working as a film critic, Vishnevetsky worked as a translator, movie theater usher and laundromat attendant. Beginning in 2004, he became involved with Chicago
's cinephile
community, many of whose members he met through the video rental store "Odd Obsession". He was involved in a screening space called North Western Avenue, whose participants later co-founded the film website Cine-File.info. Vishnevetsky published a film zine
before joining Tisch Film Review and then MUBI.
with his wife, Theresa Roberts, a sculptor and installation artist. He remains a Russian citizen.
, Time
writer Steven James Snyder wrote that Lemire was "more preoccupied with finesse and plot points", while Vishnevetsky was "more interested in structure, experimentation and mood".
In the February 11, 2011 episode of Ebert presents At the Movies, Vishnevetsky stated that the greatest influence on his work as a critic was Jean-Luc Godard
's video project Histoire(s) du cinéma
. In the same episode, he named the silent films True Heart Susie
and Foolish Wives
; the Holocaust documentary Shoah
; and Jacques Tati
's Play Time as the movies that made him want to become a film critic. In a blog post presented as an "appendix" to the episode, he revealed that he writes the majority of his film criticism
by hand and will sometimes "edit together" essays out of notes and parts of unpublished texts.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-born United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based film critic and essayist. He works as a critic for the film website Mubi.com and is an occasional contributor to the Chicago Reader.
Vishnevetsky co-hosts Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies, a nationally syndicated film criticism
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
television show, with Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire is the film critic for The Associated Press and co-host of Ebert Presents at the Movies with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. She also co-hosts the weekly online movie review show, What The Flick?!....
.
Biography
Vishnevetsky was born in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, U.S.S.R., the son of Russian poet Igor Vishnevetsky
Igor Vishnevetsky
Igor Georgievich Vishnevetsky is a notable Russian poet. He has been a contributor and editor in numerous Russian literary journals and anthologies since the 1980s...
, and moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the age of 8, following his parents' divorce.
He lived with his father, stepmother, and stepbrother in Decatur, Georgia
Decatur, Georgia
Decatur is a city in, and county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. With a population of 19,335 in the 2010 census, the city is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear the Decatur name...
, and, four years later, relocated to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Wauwatosa is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States, and was incorporated on May 27, 1897. As of the 2006 census estimate, the city's population was 44,798. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area...
, where he graduated from Wauwatosa East High School
Wauwatosa East High School
Wauwatosa East High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school in the city of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wauwatosa School District. The school was originally known as Wauwatosa Senior High School until the opening of Wauwatosa West High School in September of 1961. The...
and then moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he briefly attended Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
, studying Film Directing.
Before working as a film critic, Vishnevetsky worked as a translator, movie theater usher and laundromat attendant. Beginning in 2004, he became involved with Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's cinephile
Cinephile
Kenny Inglis and Susan Wallace are the duo behind Cinephile, a trip-hop band from Glasgow famous for the song "What Becomes of Us ?" which was played during an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
community, many of whose members he met through the video rental store "Odd Obsession". He was involved in a screening space called North Western Avenue, whose participants later co-founded the film website Cine-File.info. Vishnevetsky published a film zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
before joining Tisch Film Review and then MUBI.
Personal life
Vishnevetsky lives in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with his wife, Theresa Roberts, a sculptor and installation artist. He remains a Russian citizen.
Style
He has described himself as "more of an optimist for the future of cinema than for the future of movies", stating that in his view the two were not synonymous. Comparing Vishnevetsky with his co-host, Christy LemireChristy Lemire
Christy Lemire is the film critic for The Associated Press and co-host of Ebert Presents at the Movies with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. She also co-hosts the weekly online movie review show, What The Flick?!....
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
writer Steven James Snyder wrote that Lemire was "more preoccupied with finesse and plot points", while Vishnevetsky was "more interested in structure, experimentation and mood".
In the February 11, 2011 episode of Ebert presents At the Movies, Vishnevetsky stated that the greatest influence on his work as a critic was Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
's video project Histoire(s) du cinéma
Histoire(s) du cinéma
Histoire du cinéma is a video project begun by Jean-Luc Godard in the late 1980s and completed in 1998. The densest and undoubtedly one of the greatest of Godard's films, Histoire du cinéma is an examination of the history of the concept of cinema and how it relates to the 20th century; in this...
. In the same episode, he named the silent films True Heart Susie
True Heart Susie
True Heart Susie is an American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the British Film Institute...
and Foolish Wives
Foolish Wives
Foolish Wives is an American drama silent film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. Although uncredited, Irving Thalberg, aged 22, was in charge of production and would go on to become one of the most famous studio heads of all time at...
; the Holocaust documentary Shoah
Shoah (film)
This page is about the film by the name of Shoah. For other uses, see Shoah Shoah is a 1985 French documentary film directed by Claude Lanzmann about the Holocaust...
; and Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati was a French filmmaker, working as a comedic actor, writer and director. In a poll conducted by Entertainment Weekly of the Greatest Movie Directors Tati was voted the 46th greatest of all time...
's Play Time as the movies that made him want to become a film critic. In a blog post presented as an "appendix" to the episode, he revealed that he writes the majority of his film criticism
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
by hand and will sometimes "edit together" essays out of notes and parts of unpublished texts.