Filme

Barbara

Film Info

Deutschland 2012 | 105 min. Regie: Christian Petzold

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Barbara

Synopsis

Summer 1980. Barbara, a doctor, has applied for an exit visa from the GDR (East Germany). Now, as punishment, she has been transferred from Berlin to a small hospital out in the country, far from everything. Jörg, her lover from the West, is already planning her escape. Barbara waits, keeping to herself. The new apartment, the neighbours, summertime, the countryside − none of that means anything to her. Working as a paediatric surgeon under her new boss Andre, she is attentive when it comes to the patients, but quite distanced towards her colleagues. Her future, she feels, will begin later. But Andre confuses her. His confidence in her professional abilities, his caring attitude, his smile. Why does he cover for her when she helps the young runaway Sarah? Does he have an assignment to keep track of her? Is he in love? But as the day of her planned escape quickly approaches, Barbara starts to lose control. Over herself, her plans, over love.

Cast & Crew

Regie

Christian Petzold
Produzent

Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber
Drehbuch

Christian Petzold
Kamera

Hans Fromm
Schauspieler

Ronald Zehrfeld (Andre), Rainer Bock (Klaus Schütz), Jasna Fritzi Bauer (Stella), Christina Hecke (Karin), Nina Hoss (Barbara)
Schnitt

Bettina Böhler
Musik

Andreas Mücke-Niestyka
Szenenbild

K.D. Gruber

Statement Regisseur

In the films of recent years, East Germany has often appeared quite desaturated. No colours, no wind, only the grey of border crossings and the fatigued faces, much like those of the bleary-eyed passengers on the sleeper inter-zonal trains at Gera’s railway station.
We didn’t want to film a portrait of an oppressed nation and then juxtapose it with love as this innocent, pure and liberating force. We didn’t want any symbols. You just end up decoding them and what’s left is what you knew all along. We watched several films in preparation. One of the films that deeply impressed us was TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT by Howard Hawks. Two lovers, Bacall and Bogart, suspiciously eyeing each other, who cheat and lie, with secret police all around them and so constantly forced to speak between the lines. Strangely enough though, they can both handle it and they enjoy watching each other deal with the situation: the elegance, the intelligence, the precise skirmishes of their dialogues, as though seemingly ignited by the censored and controlled world around them. You clearly see how circumstances can produce new types of people who kiss, speak and look differently.