Rent Waiting for teh Barbarians on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book
Written by: J.M. Coetzee (based on the novel by), J.M. Coetzee (screenplay by)
Directed by: Ciro Guerra
Starring: Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson
Rated: NR [R]
Watch the trailer
Plot
At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate is horrified at the cruel tactics used by an army colonel who arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising.
Verdict
This movie should be better than it is. The story and actors are great, but this movie lacks feeling despite an impressive setting and set design. It just feels flat. This is a look at imperialism and the destruction it brings through an impartial observer. While the themes are powerful and this provides a lot to discuss, the potential unfortunately isn't fully realized.
It depends.
Review
This is set around 1980, according to the novel, at a frontier outpost in an unknown empire. The outpost is run by a nebbish magistrate (Mark Rylance) who desires to keep the peace between the original inhabitants and the invading colonists.
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| Mark Rylance plays the magistrate. |
Colonel Joll (Johnny Depp) arrives at the outpost under the guise of an inspection. He thinks the inhabitants are plotting against the empire and tortures two locals for a confession on trumped up charges. Joll thinks there is a plot and uses tactics to get the answers he wants from the "barbarians." Why does he do this, upsetting the peace? It must be that he's paranoid and convinced he is correct. While the magistrate thinks Joll's behavior is abhorrent, he's reluctant to oppose the colonel and in turn his military detachment. While the magistrate acts cowardly, it wouldn't have mattered if he did protest. That might be one of the points. Some things you can't change. It would be easy for this to go typical Hollywood and have the magistrate be the hero that overthrows the bad guys. I appreciate he doesn't.
This is the power dynamic at play in this movie. The empire sees this desert as theirs merely because they say so and built an outpost. The empire treats the locals as less than people, torturing them because they can. Things like this occur because small men want to feel big. They seek to exert power because they feel powerless. Maybe Joll is acting on orders, but he is responsible for the cruel methods.
The local inhabitants see the empire as visitors, transients that can't survive the desert. The magistrate is an outsider. He's not military, horrified at what they are doing to locals. The magistrate isn't a local either. He's acting on behalf of the empire even if he's trying to keep the peace. That peace is upended when the empire's military begins to intervene.
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| Johnny Depp plays Colonel Joll |
A destitute woman, tortured by Joll's men is a way for the magistrate to express his regret of the events, to show his servitude to the locals. It's him trying to do right. This is a scene(s) I've seen misinterpreted in other reviews. It's not fetish, it's metaphor. The washing of feet is used to show servitude.
I want to like this movie and there's so much going on between the lines, but it's lacking. This should be better. It doesn't quite capture the mood of this place. There are plenty of wide shots to show the scenery, but it's perfunctory. It's unfortunate as the production design is great.
I've been thinking about this movie, wondering why it doesn't live up to the potential. I want to like it more. I think it comes down to direction. Dialog exchanges can be static. Also we see this through the eyes of someone that's in the empire. I'm sure it's intentional, but it might be the reason this feels detached. The locals have very little characterization. With a different director this could be a much different, and better, movie.
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