Barbara
2012 Directed by Christian Petzold
Synopsis
Summer, 1980. Barbara, a doctor, has applied for an exit visa from the GDR (East Germany). Now, as punishment, she has been transferred from Berlin to a small hospital out in the country, far from everything. Jörg, her lover from the West, is already planning her escape. Barbara waits, keeping to herself. The new apartment, the neighbors, summertime, the countryside – none of that means anything to her. Working as a pediatric surgeon under her new boss Andre, she is attentive when it comes to the patients, but quite distanced toward her colleagues. Her future, she feels, will begin later. But Andre confuses her. His confidence in her professional abilities, his caring attitude, his smile. Why does he cover for her when she helps the young runaway Sarah? Does he have an assignment to keep track of her? Is he in love? But as the day of her planned escape quickly approaches, Barbara starts to lose control. Over herself, her plans, over love.
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«They're coming to get you, Barbara» may be a famous quote from a totally different movie, however, for this film's Barbara the quote is too true.
The size of the resources the former nation of DDR spent spying on their own citizens is hard to fathom. Even in the most insignificant places there were always people employed by the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, ready to monitor every minute of people's everyday lives. There really was no way of telling right away with whom one could speak freely. Because of that, people seldom did. And even if someone opened up, others could just as easily interpret that as a false invite.
Barbara is a doctor who, in the eyes of the regime,…
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A desperate girl desperately cries out, "Barbara" over the continuous crash of waves and I totally lost my shit. The movie had kind of been building to this moment without making it too obvious (you'll anticipate the turn in the narrative but you probably won't be prepared for the subtle punch to the guts it delivers), and it spoke volumes as to how moving and deliberate this whole film is. Lingering shots on a facial expression, or the motif of trees battered by the wind; you become aware of these little touches after being thrust into this alien world of suspicion and fear and when the credits roll you will be wanting to blabber to the person next to you…
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Due to its retentive, understated tone, it's not a good idea to watch this when tired, as I did, as you're liable to occasionally zone out. So, while I can't say I'm giving the film a fair crack of the whip, I was impressed by that which I managed to focus on.
Nina Hoss' powerful central performance is unmissable, however. As Barbara, she plays a doctor in pre-unification East Germany, who has been forcibly transferred out from Berlin to the countryside for the crime of seeking an exit visa.
Composed, brisk and standoffish, with only her chain-smoking betraying an inner turmoil, she avoids company in her new practice, including the friendly advances of a senior colleague, Dr. Reiser (Ronald Zehrfeld).… -
Understated. Quiet. Slow. Precise. Restrained. Picturesque. Detached. Minimalistic. Subtle. Intelligent. Barbara.
I can certainly see why some viewers won't like this movie, all of the above words when combined are enough to put people to sleep just thinking about them but for me this was almost perfect.
My one criticism might be that there felt like a bit too much plot and perhaps there was one scene too many past what felt like the natural point to fade to black.
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I've recently lamented other films, like Farhadi's, that seem architected towards setting up moral choices at the expense of plausibility; this film acts as an interesting counterpoint, as for me most of its drama builds so naturally and smoothly that you're not aware that things are being architected in such a way. One late-breaking conveniently timed plot twist (which left me more than a bit uncertain as to how to interpret the finale) and some slight discomfort with "oh, I'm not really a cold woman, am I?" dialogue (probably something most people didn't even notice or care about) are the main things pushing away from 5-stars on a first viewing; countervailing is nuanced characterization, Petzold's precise yet not overly cold or mannered camerawork, strong performances, and a great ear for sound design - the film's virtually free of non-diegetic music, and it's all the better for it (although it does make the end credit song jar a bit).
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I guess it’s been “Women Under Despotic Socialist Regimes” week at my house. Barbara may not have the same breadth and depth of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, but through Christian Petzold’s controlled filmmaking and the emotional reserve of its titular character, its still very powerful.
Ultimately its a film about what obligations we choose to uphold in a corrupt society - to the state, to others, to ourselves, and to something bigger than all three. If the ending seems obvious from the middle of the film, it is not because of any cynical narrative calculation, but because it is the emotionally necessary destination for the film. We may not like the time and place we live in, but we still have to make choices about how we want to live, something Barbara reminds us.
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A desperate girl desperately cries out, "Barbara" over the continuous crash of waves and I totally lost my shit. The movie had kind of been building to this moment without making it too obvious (you'll anticipate the turn in the narrative but you probably won't be prepared for the subtle punch to the guts it delivers), and it spoke volumes as to how moving and deliberate this whole film is. Lingering shots on a facial expression, or the motif of trees battered by the wind; you become aware of these little touches after being thrust into this alien world of suspicion and fear and when the credits roll you will be wanting to blabber to the person next to you…
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I can't say I was completely won over, but it is a well put together story.
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It is a brilliant, deliciously arty movie, if one whose third act ultimately betrays for sentiment what makes the rest of "Barbara" so quietly punishing and indispensable.
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Whilst at times Barbara was a fascinating insight into life under a socialist East German regime, with one of the finest acting performances of 2012 in Nina Hoss, I did find it just a little bit too slow moving.
That's not to say I found it boring or tedious, because it wasn't. Instead I mean that it occasionally gave the impression that more was going on in relation to the story than was actually the case. For example, discussions between Barbara and Andre (Ronald Zehrfeld) were sometimes like balancing on a knife edge, and yet other times seemed bloated, distinguishing any tension that there could have been by being so mundane.
However, there is plenty of drama throughout. When the…
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I've recently lamented other films, like Farhadi's, that seem architected towards setting up moral choices at the expense of plausibility; this film acts as an interesting counterpoint, as for me most of its drama builds so naturally and smoothly that you're not aware that things are being architected in such a way. One late-breaking conveniently timed plot twist (which left me more than a bit uncertain as to how to interpret the finale) and some slight discomfort with "oh, I'm not really a cold woman, am I?" dialogue (probably something most people didn't even notice or care about) are the main things pushing away from 5-stars on a first viewing; countervailing is nuanced characterization, Petzold's precise yet not overly cold or mannered camerawork, strong performances, and a great ear for sound design - the film's virtually free of non-diegetic music, and it's all the better for it (although it does make the end credit song jar a bit).
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Barbara is built on quietness and patience, and is grounded in an impressively real-world sense of what daily life in East Germany must have been like (i.e., an atmosphere of almost-banal mistrust) shortly before the worldwide collapse of Communism.
Full review at my blog: whitecitycinema.com/2013/04/29/now-playing-stoker-and-barbara/
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Barbara é uma médica que vive, trabalha e planeja uma fuga da Alemanha Oriental em 1980. E é o mais emotivo dos filmes de Christian Petzold. Se os personagens agem de forma fria é porque o regime em que vivem assim exige: todos têm consciência de que vigiam e são vigiados. O filme não tem nenhum dos fetiches típicos de “filmes de vigilância”, como enquadramentos com pontos de vista de câmeras de vigilância, etc. A paranóia e a opressão estão apenas nos olhares e na linguagem corporal dos atores. Em poucas palavras, Barbara mostra como são e como vivem pessoas que sabem que estão sendo vigiadas o tempo todo, e cujos colegas de trabalho, vizinhos, etc, são informantes em potencial.…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Una piccola città persa nelle campagne di quella che fu la DDR. Una donna scende da un autobus e va a sedersi su una panchina davanti all’ospedale, dalle cui finestre la osservano un medico e quello che scopriremo essere un agente della Stasi. Ascoltando le loro parole capiamo che anche la donna è un medico e che, in seguito a un misterioso crimine, è stata incarcerata, e una volta rilasciata allontanata da Berlino, esiliata a lavorare in quel vecchio ospedale, in un paese che sembra fuori da ogni mappa.
Inizia così La scelta di Barbara, l’ultimo film di uno dei più talentuosi registi tedeschi, Christian Petzold, vincitore del premio alla regia al Festival di Berlino.
Evitando accuratamente di dare una…