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In hire leaves a film “waiting for the barbarians” — the English-language debut by Colombian Director Ciro Guerra’s and the film adaptation of the novel by Nobel prize winner John Coetzee, who himself adapted his work for the screen. Says Julia Siegelman.If judged by the standards of “Letters to the Roman friend”, the Magistrate (mark Rylance) from a fictitious Empire in which the action is not very lucky: he lives in a remote province, Yes, but no sea here, outside the fortress walls, a small border garrison only the endless desert, inhabited by nomads, whose Empire, called, and considered barbarians. However, until then the life of a Magistrate is quite nice: duties pleasant, local girls malleable, “barbarians”, which he treated with benevolent condescension, not annoying. Know yourself calmly wait for retirement.Everything changes when garrison from the center comes the Colonel Joll (johnny Depp for a change plays a variation not Jack Sparrow and the villain of Grindelwald from the “Fantastic creatures”) with the task to verify the rumors that the “barbarians” plotting an attack. The magistrate does not believe, but the Colonel is not even going to listen to it, acting on its own, namely torture, knocking several unfortunate recognition that the nomads really are preparing for war. This is followed by a sortie on the other side of the border, the capture of prisoners and a new torture. The magistrate slowly but surely beginning to realize that the Empire which he serves, in fact, the evil Empire.In this opinion he was strengthened, after the departure of the Colonel picked up on the street the nameless Girl-“the barbarian” (Ghana Bayarsaikhan), which visitors from the center blinded and broke her legs. The magistrate becomes obsessed with her and therefore begins to doubt the validity of the Imperial device and their own place in it. Thus, contrary to the source, his interest in the girl is almost devoid of a sexual connotation — it awakens in him the desire, and conscience.Of course, close encounters with the “enemy,” no matter what they wear do not go unpunished. When call returns, this time with numerous military housing and new torturers, officer Mandel (Robert Pattinson), the Magistrate declared a traitor and subjected to torture. In the desert, meanwhile, still starts the war with the nomads, in fact, due to the need of something to write reports.The Coetzee novel, published in 1980, was an allegorical statement on the topic of imperialism, atrocities committed by them, as well as the personal responsibility of those involved in the system, even if he adheres to it is humane positions. All these considerations are quite relevant and now preserved in the Fi��of me — but if on book pages allegorical manner was even more intense, the screen blurs rather, turning the film into speculative reasoning on General topics. Shake the viewer, supposed graphic scenes of torture and shots of bloody bodies, but repeated again and again, they already seem designed for cheap thrills and purely physiological response.The authors are well manages to convey the meaninglessness that lies at the heart of any totalitarian regime, forced to invent enemies, to somehow justify their existence. However, they seemed to lack the courage to sharpen the senses, taking the picture in a restrained academic, underlined and its visual style: the camera is twice winner of the “Oscar” Chris Mengis captures the vastness of the desert, the distant mountain peaks, the contrast of the sand walled town and a sky blue, the blinding light of the summer days and hazy blue winter — all so beautiful that distracts a lot of human suffering. Mark Rylance — actor, who can even read the phone book to turn into a real drama, but even his skill is not enough to give weight to the humanistic message of the film. Imperialism is bad, torture destroys not only the body but the soul, johnny Depp goes black, if you fell in the Empire to be born… well, you know the rest.