The film adaptation betrays the universal welcoming spirit as opposed to fear of weakened by the rigid dictates of US film industry.
(Venice Luigi Noera with the kind collaboration of Marina fearful and Annamaria Stramondo- Photos are published courtesy of ASAC Biennale)
Presented in competition at the 76th Venice Film Festival in Venice, Waiting for the Barbarians is the last work of the Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra.
His first production with an international flavor, Waiting for the Barbarians depicts the story of a magistrate, administrator of a frontier outpost on the borders of an empire without a name, who, quietly waiting for retirement, expects to hand over his duties to the more cruel Colonel Joll, usually perform harsh interrogations to the natives of the place and to torture the same if they intended to rebel. Things will change when the marshal will the knowledge of a barbarian woman previously tortured by his own soldiers.
Set in a deliberately timeless place and no name, this feature aims to stage a dangerously current world history. Operation, the present, undoubtedly challenging, who saw war relate for the first time in a cast from international (which includes Marc Rylance, Johnny Depp e Robert Pattinson) e, mostly, in typical production dictates of the major Hollywood majors. E, in fact, if you already had the opportunity to view the previous author's work, one can not see how this deviates substantially from what has been achieved up to now, assuming a more character tending to mainstream and distorting, therefore, the poetics of the director himself.
And this is, perhaps, the main factor that has led to a product like Waiting for the Barbarians sometimes proves too flat and redundant, Despite the undoubted appeal of situations staged. and yet, in fact, the basic structure with which initially the whole was conceived, It is certainly interesting: divided into four chapters - each showing a different season of the year - the narrative pace is perfect to represent the cyclical nature of life and the repetition of history. And such a thing - given also the intention of setting the whole thing at a time and in an undefined space - is an ideal solution.
Sin, therefore, that any situation could have been developed better. Same goes for the stars, all with a definite potential, but that, in fact, They do not always enjoy a writing that enhances them to 360 °. and yet, despite the obvious flaws, We can not fail to recognize a job as Waiting for the Barbarians excellent directing, complete with a wise management of the spaces and interesting historical reconstructions. Sign, in fact, that - although stifled by rigid production dictates - the talented Ciro Guerra is felt more alive and button.
marina fears