Barbara
2012 · Movie · 105 min · ★ 7.2 · 90% critics
In 1980s East Germany, a doctor is sent to a rural clinic after asking to leave the country. She keeps to herself, wary of being watched by the secret police and unsure who she can trust, even as she tries to do her job and build a life in an uneasy place.
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Details
- Years
- 2012
- Release date
- 2012-03-08
- Language
- German
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Max quality
- SD
- Critic score
- 90/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.2/10 (361 votes)
About
You may like this if you enjoy quiet, tense dramas about life under surveillance and difficult choices; not for you if you want fast-moving action or a warmer, more openly emotional story like The Lives of Others or Phoenix.
Pros: tense atmosphere; strong performances; thoughtful character study | Cons: slow pace; emotionally restrained; loose ending
Themes
- small town
- visa
- stasi
- lover
- doctor
- east germany
- 1980s
Awards & recognition
- German Film Award — Best Feature Film · 2012
- International Submission to the Academy Awards · 2013 · nominated
- European Film Award — Best Actress · 2012 · nominated
- European Film Award — Best Film · 2012 · nominated
- European Film Award – People's Choice Award — Best European Film · 2012 · nominated
Show all 13 awards →
- German Film Award — Best Editing · 2012 · nominated
- German Film Award — Best Sound Design · 2012 · nominated
- German Film Award — Best Feature Film · 2012 · nominated
- German Film Award — Best Cinematography · 2012 · nominated
- German Film Award — Best Actor · 2012 · nominated
- German Film Award — Best Costume Design · 2012 · nominated
- German Film Award — Best Direction · 2012 · nominated
- German Film Award — Best Screenplay · 2012 · nominated
Cast & crew
Nina Hoss
as Barbara
Ronald Zehrfeld
as André
Rainer Bock
as Klaus Schütz
Christina Hecke
as Assistenzärztin Schulze
Claudia Geisler-Bading
as Stationsschwester Schlösser
Peter Weiss
as Medizinstudent
- CH
Carolin Haupt
as Medizinstudentin
- DP
Deniz Petzold
as Angelo
Rosa Enskat
as Hausmeisterin Bungert
Jasna Fritzi Bauer
as Stella
Directed by Christian Petzold