In the culture-clash comedy “Meet the Barbarians,” actor-director Julie Delpy lays bare a number of Western hypocrisies. The film follows several townspeople in the struggling French commune of Paimpont, who vote to welcome a handful of Ukrainian refugees, but are caught by surprise when a Syrian family shows up instead. The ensuing response runs the gamut from clumsy to hostile, which Delpy captures by applying a documentary-like lens to the town’s fabric, and to their Arab guests. The result is a movie that, though it never quite achieves the dramatic highs for which it aspires, proves eye-wateringly funny.
The film flies out the gate with an energy reminiscent of “The Office,” as bumbling mayor Sébastien Lejeune (Jean-Charles Clichet) regales a TV news crew with his plans to welcome a Ukrainian family. The city council votes overwhelmingly in favor. Even potential holdout Hervé Riou (Laurent Lafitte), the sour-faced town plumber,...
The film flies out the gate with an energy reminiscent of “The Office,” as bumbling mayor Sébastien Lejeune (Jean-Charles Clichet) regales a TV news crew with his plans to welcome a Ukrainian family. The city council votes overwhelmingly in favor. Even potential holdout Hervé Riou (Laurent Lafitte), the sour-faced town plumber,...
- 9/16/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
‘Meet the Barbarians’ Review: Julie Delpy’s Middling Refugee Comedy Has Its Heart in the Right Place
With eight movies in just over two decades, actress turned filmmaker Julie Delpy has carved out a curious niche for herself on both sides of the Atlantic. Based in Los Angeles but working predominantly in France, collaborating with Richard Linklater (the Before trilogy) on one hand and Gallic stars like Dany Boon (Lolo) on the other, switching from drama (The Countess) to comedy (Le Skylab) and back again (My Zoe), Delpy, like the frazzled characters she often plays on screen, isn’t easy to pin down.
And yet her latest work, the refugee satire Meet the Barbarians (Les Barbares), is probably her most bluntly French film to date, and certainly her most political one. But it may also be her least funny movie, steeping to clichés and caricature in its depiction of a picturesque Breton village that welcomes a family of Syrians escaping from the war. Sporting a heartfelt pro-immigrant...
And yet her latest work, the refugee satire Meet the Barbarians (Les Barbares), is probably her most bluntly French film to date, and certainly her most political one. But it may also be her least funny movie, steeping to clichés and caricature in its depiction of a picturesque Breton village that welcomes a family of Syrians escaping from the war. Sporting a heartfelt pro-immigrant...
- 9/10/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Until its full plot unfolds, viewers are likely to assume “Meet the Barbarians” is a sweetly nostalgic comedy. And in some ways, they’d be right. Director Julie Delpy structures her new film as a fairy tale, going so far as to introduce the action with a literal “Once upon a time in Paimpont …”
She gives us a delightful setting, heroes and villains, five distinct acts and a strong moral lesson. But while the tale is timeless, the time is two years ago. And Paimpont, a charming hamlet in Brittany, could be any number of small towns or big cities today.
Paimpont happens to be an ancient village so tiny, everyone is involved in every decision. When the film begins, the mayor, Sébastien (Jean-Charles Clichet), is proudly announcing a new initiative: Paimpont has decided to adopt a family of Ukrainian refugees. The whole town is vibrating with excitement, until they...
She gives us a delightful setting, heroes and villains, five distinct acts and a strong moral lesson. But while the tale is timeless, the time is two years ago. And Paimpont, a charming hamlet in Brittany, could be any number of small towns or big cities today.
Paimpont happens to be an ancient village so tiny, everyone is involved in every decision. When the film begins, the mayor, Sébastien (Jean-Charles Clichet), is proudly announcing a new initiative: Paimpont has decided to adopt a family of Ukrainian refugees. The whole town is vibrating with excitement, until they...
- 9/9/2024
- by Elizabeth Weitzman
- The Wrap
Chicago – The clash of ideologies or religion that result in war is one of the most emotional of reasons to fight (and convenient for those who manipulate such emotions). “The Insult,” a contender for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, shows how feelings can escalate to bitter conflict.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The film is set in Beirut, Lebanon, that is building towards a safe harbor for their citizens in a post-war era… especially the Palestinian refugees. But this is not without consequence, and it’s illustrated through a confrontation between a Christian Party mechanic and a Palestinian construction worker. What starts as an exchange of misunderstood insults, becomes a trial of the century, and a powder keg with a burning fuse for the broader opposing factions in Lebanon. Exquisitely acted and highly moral, the film creates human representatives for long-simmering resentments, and holds up that humanity to the light.
Tony Hanna...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The film is set in Beirut, Lebanon, that is building towards a safe harbor for their citizens in a post-war era… especially the Palestinian refugees. But this is not without consequence, and it’s illustrated through a confrontation between a Christian Party mechanic and a Palestinian construction worker. What starts as an exchange of misunderstood insults, becomes a trial of the century, and a powder keg with a burning fuse for the broader opposing factions in Lebanon. Exquisitely acted and highly moral, the film creates human representatives for long-simmering resentments, and holds up that humanity to the light.
Tony Hanna...
- 2/2/2018
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Adel Karam as Tony (left) and Kamel El Basha as Yasser (right) in The Insult, directed by Ziad Doueiri. Courtesy of the Cohen Media Group.
A personal dispute between two men in Beirut, one Christian Lebanese and the other Palestinian, escalates into a highly-charged and very public trial that unearths unresolved social and political issues throughout Lebanon that have been simmering since the civil war ended in 1990.
The Oscar-nominated The Insult was Lebanon’s entry for the Academy Awards, and is a strong contender for the award in the Best Foreign-Language film category. Director Ziad Doueiri’s courtroom drama spotlights the resentment of some Christian Lebanese towards the Palestinian refugees who poured over their border from Israel and played a role in their civil role. The immigration issue is a universal topic that will strike a familiar note in this country, but the well-crafted, nuanced drama brings out tensions still simmering in Lebanese society,...
A personal dispute between two men in Beirut, one Christian Lebanese and the other Palestinian, escalates into a highly-charged and very public trial that unearths unresolved social and political issues throughout Lebanon that have been simmering since the civil war ended in 1990.
The Oscar-nominated The Insult was Lebanon’s entry for the Academy Awards, and is a strong contender for the award in the Best Foreign-Language film category. Director Ziad Doueiri’s courtroom drama spotlights the resentment of some Christian Lebanese towards the Palestinian refugees who poured over their border from Israel and played a role in their civil role. The immigration issue is a universal topic that will strike a familiar note in this country, but the well-crafted, nuanced drama brings out tensions still simmering in Lebanese society,...
- 2/2/2018
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Its Oscar nomination this week as Best Foreign-Language Film isn't the only thing that makes The Insult a must-see – Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Doueiri's legal thriller fairly crackles with timely provocations. And don't be put off if the film's structure initially seems schematic to a fault. This is a director who's more than adept at filling in the spaces between feuding characters with insinuating nuance.
The conflict starts when Tony Hanna (Adel Karam), a Christian garage owner with a pregnant wife, Shirine (Rita Hayek), gets all up in the face...
The conflict starts when Tony Hanna (Adel Karam), a Christian garage owner with a pregnant wife, Shirine (Rita Hayek), gets all up in the face...
- 1/25/2018
- Rollingstone.com
The Insult (L’insulte) Cohen Media Group Director: Ziad Doueiri Written by: Ziad Doueiri, Joëlle Touma Cast: Adel Karam, Rita Hayek, Kamel El Basha, Christine Choueiri, Camille Salamé, Diamand Bou Abboud, Georges Daou Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 1/7/18 Opens: January 26, 2018 Sometimes a judicial case causes repercussions well beyond the courtroom. Consider how the […]
The post The Insult Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Insult Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 1/21/2018
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
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