Christoph Huber Cinema Scope Oct 9, 2017

... fierce humanism in the face of a world shaped by market logic and humiliation.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Feb 5, 2010 3/4

Import Export adds the welcome element of humanity to stand between the cruelty and humor.

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Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews Jan 21, 2010 B+

There is never a moment telegraphed in the story...keeping me interested and attentive throughout its 2 hour runtime.

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Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews Jan 18, 2010 B+

Eastern work ethic vs. the softer West. It is clear who Seidl sides with.

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Matthew Nestel Boxoffice Magazine Aug 6, 2009 4/5

Technically, the sedate yet stunning 35mm camera is there for the ride and somehow never imposes or dominates the content. And the result is a true triumph.

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Avi Offer NYC Movie Guru Aug 4, 2009 6.0/10

Occasionally drags, but offers a relentlessly stark glimpse into the morbid, tragic life of two lost souls who haven't found happiness or prosperity.

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V.A. Musetto New York Post Jul 31, 2009 3/4

The mood is as dismal as the weather in Import/Export, by Austrian auteur Ulrich Seidl.

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Manohla Dargis New York Times Jul 31, 2009 4.5/5

Ulrich Seidl's Import Export is an unflinching, at times almost unbearably hard yet moral look at human exploitation.

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Christopher Null Filmcritic.com Jul 30, 2009 4/5

blunt and brutal

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Keith Uhlich Time Out Jul 30, 2009 4/5

Import Export demands we contemplate the horror and the beauty of existence in equal measure.

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Joseph Jon Lanthier Slant Magazine Jul 28, 2009 3/4

The titular backslash of Import/Export turns out to be a vast geographical schism, crossed only intermittently by thin strands of mutual emotional anguish.

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Scott Foundas Village Voice Jul 21, 2009

Seidl's film arguably offers the toughest (and toughest to stomach) portrait of individuals tempest-tossed by the currents of the new global economy.

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Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Oct 3, 2008 3.5/5

Sometimes a bit hard to stomach, but has such vividly realistic characters and situations that it can't be ignored.

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Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard Oct 3, 2008 4/5

Seidl is a special talent, reared on documentary and determined to get near the truth with a placidly baleful eye. You are at liberty to hate or admire his work - but you can scarcely ignore it.

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh Metro Newspaper (UK) Oct 3, 2008 3/5

Bafflingly, this film leaves you not knowing whether to kill yourself, cry, walk out or laugh.

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Andy Gill Independent (UK) Oct 3, 2008 4/5

At times it feels like a continuation of Lukas Moodysson's Lilya 4-ever in its catalogue of injustices and humiliations, yet, against the odds, it rewards your endurance.

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Nigel Andrews Financial Times Oct 3, 2008

The Austrian miserablist who gave us Dog Days - sharper and more mischievous in its portrait of exurbia's human excreta - delivers an essay in symmetrical despondence that seems both tidy and empty, like a trash can after street-cleaning.

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Sam Wigley Total Film Oct 3, 2008 4/5

Yet his unerring eye for the absurdity of human behaviour and the rituals we invent for ourselves makes this a blackly humorous treat.

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Elliott Noble Sky Cinema Oct 3, 2008 3/5

Veracity and mordant humour are all well and good, but Seidl treads a very fine line between making jokes about being sick and making sick jokes.

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Sukhdev Sandhu Daily Telegraph (UK) Oct 3, 2008

Import Export is a work of the utmost political importance. It is also, in its rigour and fearlessness, its sorrow and pitilessness, an outstanding artistic achievement.

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