Review of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012) by Bestpony — 01 Jan 2013

It's a pretty standard documentary that gives you all the necessary information about Weiwei's past, why he's important, what his methods are, how he functions in China, and so on. But that's all you get here: facts, explanations and the artist's inscrutable, bearded face.

At one point we learn that even though Weiwei is married, he has a son with another woman. "It happens," he explains reluctantly. We never get to hear the women talk about that. The film always maintains a respectful distance from its subject, and while it tells a story that absolutely had to be told, this neutral style makes the experience much less engaging than it could have been.