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...

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