Waiting for the Barbarians

This film is about how nasty we can be while hiding behind things like authority, law and other euphemisms for power. A slow burn movie, it stars Mark Rylance - in a yet another great role - as a decent man who has no power to control things, but has to observe others. I will have to say that both Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson did a great job, but their characters barely covered ten minutes of screen taken together. The film is well done, beautifully shot, introspective.

Bottom line: a gem in the mud, a film that was bound to gather low ratings because it is uncomfortable to bear witness to human cruelty, pride and greed. It's a must watch, but be warned that it is not easy to do so.

Although the cinematography and the acting are almost excellent the slow pace of the story makes Waiting For The Barbarians just a movie that is worth watching once but not more. It just lacks some oomph, maybe some battle scenes to make it better. There is some cruelty and torturing though, physical and mental torture, so the story is still captivating and the excellent acting of Mark Rylance is the best thing of the movie. Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson are for once the bad people, and they did a very good job playing characters that everybody normal will dislike. All in all it isn't a bad movie but it clearly misses something to make it exceptional.

THE PRO'S: The Barbarians is a beautifully shot meditation on what it means to be civilized on both a national and a personal level. Every frame in this film is gorgeous; from the windswept vistas of the blazing frontier to the bespoke stucco architecture sinking into the sands of time, this film has texture. Mark Rylance turns in a touching performance as a man trying to remain decent in an increasingly cruel situation. And while the central message of "maybe WE'RE the barbarians!!!!" would be usually easy and trite, the movie is careful to depict both sides as falling prey to xenophobia and the us-vs-them mentality. Johhny Depp is also good here: his enigmatic strangeness is reigned in more than usual and he sells the cruelty well. The set design is also worth noting and really succeeds in transporting you to this forgotten outpost from another place and time.

THE CON'S: At several points along its journey, the film can really drag. This was no doubt intentional, but that doesn't save the pacing. There's a little too much self indulgence, a few too many times the camera is allowed to linger. And while that does help this film achieve its melancholy epitaph for the civility and morals of an old world, it also breaks the immersion. The very last shot, which I won't spoil, is also in my opinion a misstep. There is a suspicion built up over the course of the film and bandied about by the characters which this shot sort of obliterates. Perhaps this is true to the source material; this is an adaptation after all. But a little restraint there would go a long way.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Waiting for the Barbarians is a fascinating study of helpless people in helpless situations, civility vs. Brutality, and the decay of the old world in the face of the inevitable winds of change. If you can hunker down for a slower, longer burn that admittedly should have been cleaned up in the editing room, you'll be rewarded. 8 out of 10 stars.

It's a slow burn, but if you're ok with that, you're rewarded with strong performances, incredible cinematography and beautiful landscapes and a compelling lead character to root for.

I expected the film with...fear. Because each adaptation of a great novel remains a try . Because the characters and the atmosphere are more posessions of reader than work of the writer . But the film is decent . Grace to cinematography , reasonable solutions for inner monologue of Magister and, no doubts, for the admirable work of Mark Rylance and Greta Scacchi. And, sure, for not bad Colonel Joll proposed by Johnny Depp. Moments of novel are fresh, the intro is just beautiful and it works, maybe better than as adaptation, like a colonial story. And the barbarians as Mongols remains an inspired solution. In my case, only two surprises - the absence of generous belly of Magister and his so large office. But , obvious, it is a reasonable adaptation. So, just decent.