"In FRIENDLY WITNESS, Sonbert returned, after 20 years, to sound. In the first section of the film, he deftly edits a swirling montage of images - suggestive of loves gained and love lost - to the tunes of four rock songs. 'At times the words of the songs seem to relate directly to the images we see ...; at other times words and images seem to be working almost at cross-purposes or relating only ironically. Similarly, at times the image rhythm and music rhythm appear to dance together, while at others they go their separate ways.' (Fred Camper, Chicago Reader, October 12, 1990)

"Accompanying the closing imagery with a music underscore from Gluck's overture to Iphigenie en Aulide, Sonbert remarked that 'Spectacle, public domain, objective (god's eye) point of view is the aesthetic approach with the constant idea that all this activity is perhaps occurring simultaneously.' Here, as Sonbert weaves together an extraordinary palette of synchronous global activity, he places himself firmly in the pantheon of the great montage theorists in film history." - Jon Gartenberg