[The voice-over commentary on "Diary of a Yunbogi Boy"] smacks of an inept pastiche of the late Jimmy Cannon….

"Diary of a Yunbogi Boy" seeks to stroke the fires of rebellion with the lump in the throat that presumably arises in the presence of what is intended to be a touching study of an impoverished Korean boy.

With all its drawbacks, looking at [Godard's] "Letter to Jane" after watching "Diary of a Yunbogi Boy" is almost like standing in the presence of a Rembrandt after being exposed to one of those hollow-eyed Keane paintings.

Lawrence Van Gelder, "Comment on Stills," in The New York Times (© 1974 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), April 12, 1974 (and reprinted in The New York Times Film Reviews: 1973–1974, The New York Times Company & Arno Press, 1975, p. 158).