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Waiting for the Barbarians

2020 · 112 min

A slow, oppressive trudge through moral compromise and colonial cruelty, offering bleak beauty and a mounting sense of dread.

Directed by
Ciro Guerra
Genres
Drama, History
Overview
At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate suffers a crisis of conscience when an army colonel arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising, using cruel tactics that horrify the magistrate.

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Directed by
Ciro Guerra
Genres
Drama, History
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • bleakstrength 3 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • colonialism
  • morality
  • power
  • corruption
  • isolation
Places
  • wilderness
  • small town
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror4
Humour1
Realism7
Romance1
Tension7
Darkness8
Complexity6
Emotional weight8

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Cast

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Details

Genres
drama, history
Directed by
Ciro Guerra
Written by
Ciro Guerra
Starring
Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Gana Bayarsaikhan, Greta Scacchi, David Dencik, Sam Reid, Harry Melling
Music
Giampiero Ambrosi
Cinematography
Chris Menges
Runtime
112 min
Country
Italy, United States of America
Languages
English, Mongolian

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