event Barbara

It’s the wind that does it. As much as banished East German doctor Nina Hoss, the wind that scours the countryside and threatens to wipe Hoss away is a principal character in Christian Petzold’s pensive drama Barbara. A cypher at first, Hoss keeps to herself, rebuffing even mild courtesies from boss Ronald Zehrfeld. Like Germany at the time—the film is set in 1980, although few chronological markers are given—she’s divided, her inner self walled off from any who’d attempt to come close. Hoss’ withdrawn state isn’t simply a matter of pique. From the first scene, when her new colleagues gaze from a distance at her enjoying a solitary cigarette, she’s constantly under surveillance—mostly brutally by the Stasi, who violate her with regular cavity searches, but from her hospital colleagues and potentially even her patients, too. As it turns out, she does have a secret: She’s planning an escape to be with her lover in West Germany. But it wouldn’t matter either way.

It’s the wind that does it. As much as banished East German doctor Nina Hoss, the wind that scours the countryside and threatens to wipe Hoss away is a principal character in Christian Petzold’s pensive drama Barbara. A cypher at first, Hoss keeps to herself, rebuffing even mild courtesies from boss Ronald Zehrfeld. Like Germany at the time—the film is set in 1980, although few chronological markers are given—she’s divided, her inner self walled off from any who’d attempt to come close. Hoss’ withdrawn state isn’t simply a matter of pique. From the first scene, when her new colleagues gaze from a distance at her enjoying a solitary cigarette, she’s constantly under surveillance—mostly brutally by the Stasi, who violate her with regular cavity searches, but from her hospital colleagues and potentially even her patients, too. As it turns out, she does have a secret: She’s planning an escape to be with her lover in West Germany. But it wouldn’t matter either way.

It’s the wind that does it. As much as banished East German doctor Nina Hoss, the wind that scours the countryside and threatens to wipe Hoss away is a principal character in Christian Petzold’s pensive drama Barbara. A cypher at first, Hoss keeps to herself, rebuffing even mild courtesies from boss Ronald Zehrfeld. Like Germany at the time—the film is set in 1980, although few chronological markers are given—she’s divided, her inner self walled off from any who’d attempt to come close. Hoss’ withdrawn state isn’t simply a matter of pique. From the first scene, when her new colleagues gaze from a distance at her enjoying a solitary cigarette, she’s constantly under surveillance—mostly brutally by the Stasi, who violate her with regular cavity searches, but from her hospital colleagues and potentially even her patients, too. As it turns out, she does have a secret: She’s planning an escape to be with her lover in West Germany. But it wouldn’t matter either way.