Waiting for the Barbarians
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.
Cast
Mark Rylance
as The Magistrate
Johnny Depp
as Colonel Joll
Robert Pattinson
as Officer Mandel
Gana Bayarsaikhan
as The Girl
Greta Scacchi
as Mai
David Dencik
as The Clerk
Sam Reid
as The Lieutenant
Harry Melling
as Garrison Soldier #4
Bill Milner
as Garrison Soldier #5
Gursed Dalkhsuren
as Old Prisoner
Reviews
Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots
Adapted by Nobel Prize winning author J.M. Coetzee from his own book, “Waiting for the Barbarians” is a timely screen retelling of the darkest (and most the most cruel) aspects of colonialism. This period film sadly reflects issues many are dealing with in present day: a society that’s relentless in...
tmdb28039023
In Waiting for the Barbarians' Colonel Joll, Johnny Depp has crafted a great movie villain. I would describe him as either a colonial Darth Vader or a proto-Nazi – and concerning the latter, the character is a textbook illustration of Hannah Arendt's 'banality of evil;' perfectly circumspect, not a ...
CinemaSerf
Despite a strong cast, this is really rather a dirge of a watch. Sir Mark Rylance is the colonial magistrate in a frontier province that inspecting "Col. Joll" (Johnny Depp) believes is about to bear the brunt of an attack from the eponymous enemy. Despite there only appearing to be sheep farmers ad...
