Waiting for the Barbarians has to be one of the most boring films I’ve seen in a long time. The trailer looked solid, and the film’s plot seemed engaging, so I was hoping I would get a gripping story. Sadly, I didn’t. I can’t fully call this film a disappointment because I wasn’t that excited about it, but I expected a lot more than what I got.
Based on the novel by author J.M. Coetzee, who adapted the book for the screen, this was a slog to get through. The impactful first act, terrible second act, is then saved by an entertaining third act, which manages to have the film finish strong. The movie pacing is all over the place as the brief flashes of thought-provoking material were few and far between. The film was 30 minutes longer than it needed to be, which hurt its execution.
It tells the story of a Magistrate (Mark Rylance) that is on the verge of retirement when Colonel Joll (Johnny Depp) begins a series of ruthless interrogations about information regarding the situation involving “barbarians” at the border. This leads the Magistrate to question his Colonel’s loyalty.
The film debuted at last year’s Venice Film Festival to mixed reviews, which might partially explain why it took almost a year for the movie to debut properly. The decision to send this straight to VOD could be many. It could have something to do with its reception or real-life issues. Johnny Depp has dealt with legal matters with ex-wife Amber Heard, which has hurt his career and marketability. The director of the film, Ciro Guerra, has also been in the hot seat as he’s been accused of sexual harassment and rape by eight women. So, the studio’s decision to quietly drop it on VOD is a mix of all those things put together.
Real-life issues aside, while the film wasn’t that good due to a mediocre script, the direction by Guerra was solid. In his English language debut, he directed the film beautifully, thanks to some gorgeous cinematography. The wide shots in the movie were a beauty to look at, for all my issues with the film, I can say it was a beautiful one to look at.
I enjoyed Guerra’s last film Birds of Passage, which I thought was great, so I was interested in seeing if he could keep his hot streak with this film. Despite having received a foreign language nomination at the Oscars, I wasn’t big on Embrace of the Serpent, which I found to be a tad overrated. However, I would take that film over this one any day.
Besides the gorgeous cinematography, the film also had great production design, fabulous costumes, and a solid score. Some of the sets were great to look at and helped capture a bygone era that we don’t see often in films. I loved the costumes in the movie, especially that of the higher-ups. They looked stylish but also had a prestigious level where you can tell whoever had it on was a big deal.
Oscar-winner Mark Rylance gave one of his best performances, but his character was not that interesting. The film wants you to sympathize with him, but he is just such a weak character. He suffers from not having much to do, as the Magistrate. It’s his job to maintain peace with the locals who are considered barbarians by the higher-ups. So we see many moments where he is just standing waiting for something terrible to happen.
Rylance won his Oscar for Bridge of Spies. I still hold a grudge against him because I feel Sylvester Stallone deserved the Oscar over him that year, so I’ll admit I give him a harder time than most. His character is the complete opposite of Depp’s Colonel, who is ruthless, which created a great dynamic between both actors because their personalities are so different. While the Colonel loved violence, Rylance’s Magistrate is nonconfrontational.
Johnny Depp is easily the best part of the film, with Depp giving one of his performances in recent times. In the past decade, he has only impressed me in Black Mass. I was happy to see him back in top form. His performance is very nuanced, with his presence making Rylance’s character better as the scenes where Rylance is alone are the most tedious parts of the film.
Robert Pattinson isn’t in the film as much as one would think, but similar to his work in The King, he manages to make the most of his short time on screen. I’m a big fan of his as I feel he’s had a tremendous post-Twilight career, especially with his work in Good Time and The Lighthouse. This is yet another strong performance that I can point people towards when they put him down as an actor just because of his work on The Twilight Saga.
To me, the film finally picks up in the third half, carried by Pattinson and Depp. This isn’t because Rylance is terrible, but as previously stated, his character on his own is just incredibly dull. Once the focus shifts, the film finally gets a good pace and woke me up as I was almost falling asleep. Every time Pattinson or Depp was on screen, I smiled as they were very entertaining. I feel they made Mark’s character way more interesting by having their presence in scenes with him. Honestly, if Depp and Pattinson weren’t in the film, this would have been a complete dud that would have received one reel instead of the two I gave it.
I don’t know what to make of this film as a whole and whether I can recommend it or not. The first act was solid, and the third act was great, it’s that middle section that puts a big downer on the film. Surprisingly, it’s the portion of the film when Depp doesn’t appear at all, which is a testament to how good he is. This one is firmly for fans of Depp and Pattinson only, as anybody else will be severely disappointed. A film that is let down by its pacing and weak, but saved by its acting. Had the two departments been a smidge better, this could have been an awards contender.
