Barbara (2012)

A doctor working in 1980s East Germany finds herself banished to a small country hospital.

Director:

Christian Petzold

Writers:

Christian Petzold (screenplay), Harun Farocki (collaborator on screenplay)

Stars:

Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Rainer Bock

10 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nina Hoss	...	Barbara
Ronald Zehrfeld	...	André
Rainer Bock	...	Klaus Schütz
Christina Hecke	...	Assistenzärztin Schulze
Claudia Geisler-Bading	...	Stationsschwester Schlösser (as Claudia Geisler)
Peter Weiss	...	Medizinstudent
Carolin Haupt	...	Medizinstudentin
Deniz Petzold	...	Angelo
Rosa Enskat	...	Hausmeisterin Bungert
Jasna Fritzi Bauer	...	Stella
Peer-Uwe Teska	...	Kellner im Ausflugslokal
Elisabeth Lehmann	...	Junge Kellnerin
Mark Waschke	...	Jörg
Peter Benedict	...	Gerhard
Thomas Neumann	...	Rentner am Auto

Storyline

In 1980s East Germany, Barbara is a Berlin doctor banished to a country medical clinic for applying for an exit visa. Deeply unhappy with her reassignment and fearful of her co-workers as possible Stasi informants, Barbara stays aloof, especially from the good natured clinic head, Andre. Instead, Barbara snatches moments with her lover as she secretly prepares to defect one day. Despite her plans, Barbara learns more about her life that puts her desires and the people around her in a new light. With her changing perspective, Barbara finds herself facing a painful moral dilemma that forces her to choose what she values.

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Plot Keywords:

woman wears a bra | woman wears lingerie | germany | east germany | 1980s | 

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Taglines:

Anyone who loves "The Lives of Others" should see this.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual material, thematic elements and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

8 March 2012 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Bárbara

Filming Locations:

Schneidlingen, Hecklingen, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Schramm Film Koerner & Weber,Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF),ARTE

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Barbara listens to a radio program discussing Wilhelm Furtwängler. Furtwangler was a German conductor, considered to be one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century.

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Goofs

When André and Barbara are bike-riding, they have a break and André suggests a ride to the beach. The relative positions of André and Barbara on the bike path vary depending whether the shot is from behind André's position or from in front of Barbara.

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Quotes

André: Doctor Wolff will be working with us. She is from Berlin... from the Charite Hospital, and has decided...
Assistenzärztin Schulze: We have introduced ourselves.

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Soundtracks

At Last I Am Free
Written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards
Performed by Chic
(c) Sony/ATV Songs LLC / Bernard's Other Music

User Reviews

A Quiet, Simple, and Elegant Film

I visited Eastern Europe, Berlin, Prague, and Budapest, in March 1990. At that time, the Berlin Wall had already been fallen down, but Germany had not reunited yet.

People could freely come and go over the borders between East and West Germany. I went through Checkpoint Charlie to East Berlin, and I visited retro-future TV tower and saw Ladas running on street.

In a night train from Berlin to Prague, I asked a passenger who sat next to me if Germany would reunite in a year, and he answered that he didn't believe it would happen so early. In fact, Germany reunited in October 1990.

Although I actually visited East Berlin, now, it is hardly for me to believe that the half of Germany was a communist state just twenty-three years ago.

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"Barbara" is a German film about people living in East Germany in 1980. Barbara is a female doctor, who was watched by the secret police.

It is one of the greatest German films that I have ever seen. There is no exaggeration and omission in this film. Every element in it is necessary, and I couldn't find that any things were unnecessary.

This film is very quiet, because there is no background music. That makes audience concentrated in every tiny sound. Barbara was always nervous about the secret police, so she got surprised when the doorbell started to ring, and the audience also got really surprised with the sound of the doorbell, and fully understood her emotion.

Nina Hoss, as Barbara, was also great and attractive. She didn't overplay at all, but accurately expressed how Barbara felt in her mind. After seeing her performance, most actors and actress became to look unnatural.

This film is a quiet, simple, and elegant. If you love films, I strongly recommend you to see it.