It seems surprising to witness a packed-out screening of a documentary about a film critic, but there’s something universal about the fascination, both admiring and begrudging, that surrounds the cult of Pauline Kael. The critic who famously hated 2001: A Space Odyssey and eviscerated Blade Runner is scrutinised through her work, inextricably linked to her all-consuming emotions, in What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael.
The premise might seem self-serving, but when you’re talking about Kael, you’re talking about more than film criticism as a distant concept, more than movies as an exclusionary or vulgar art form. What She Said offers a feature-length look at the astonishing influence Kael had on the world, as much in her own words as through those who knew her.