''Barbara'' is a 2017 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Mathieu Amalric Mathieu Amalric (; born 25 October 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker. He has won several César Awards and the Lumière Awards. He is best known internationally for his roles in the James Bond film '' Quantum of Solace'', in which he pla ...

. It stars

Jeanne Balibar Jeanne Balibar (born 13 April 1968) is a French actress and singer. Life and career Balibar was born in Paris, the daughter of Marxist philosopher Étienne Balibar and physicist Françoise Balibar. She started her career as a student in th ...

and Mathieu Amalric. It tells the story of an actress who prepares to portray the famous French singer Barbara. The film had its world premiere in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the

2017 Cannes Film Festival The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was the president of the jury for the main competition. Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closing cerem ...

on 18 May 2017. It was released in France on 6 September 2017.

Plot

Brigitte is preparing for the role of the famous French singer Barbara. The actress carefully studies the character, gestures, manners, and intonations. She learns the music scores, mimics her facial expression, but, as Brigitte does and more and more of it, she gradually merges with the character. The director is also preparing to shoot the film: he studies archival footage and painstakingly selects the music. He is inspired and even possessed—but with Barbara or with her new incarnation?

Cast

as Brigitte *

as Yves Zand *

Vincent Peirani Vincent Peirani (born 24 April 1980) is a French jazz accordionist, vocalist and composer who has played internationally, collaborating with Denis Colin, François Jeanneau, Youn Sun Nah, Émile Parisien, Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, and Mich ...

Roland Romanelli Roland Romanelli (born 21 May 1946 in Algiers) is a French accordionist, synthesist and composer, mainly known as arranger. During his career, he worked with Barbara, Rusty Egan, and other notable figures in popular music. He was an early adopte ...

Aurore Clément Aurore Clément (; born 12 October 1945) is a French actress who has appeared in French and English language movies and television productions. Early life She was born Marie-Thérèse Aurore Louise Clément in Soissons. Following the death of h ...

as Esther *

Grégoire Colin Grégoire Colin (born 25 July 1975) is a French actor. Career Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama '' Olivier, Olivier'' when he was ...

as Charley Marouani

Release

The film had its world premiere in the

section at the

on 18 May 2017. It was released in France on 6 September 2017.

Reception

Critical response

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 19 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Jay Weissberg of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' praised Jeanne Balibar's performance in the film, saying: "She has not only Barbara's look but also her gestures down pat, and the uncanny way in which the editing conflates actress with subject keeps interest relatively high." Leslie Felperin of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called the film "a self-reflexive and sometimes screamingly self-indulgent work that's strictly for hardcore French viewers and festivals."

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbara 2017 films 2017 drama films French drama films 2010s French-language films Films directed by Mathieu Amalric Louis Delluc Prize winners Films featuring a Best Actress César Award–winning performance Films featuring a Best Actress Lumières Award–winning performance 2010s French films