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      Barrier

      1966 1h 24m Drama List
      Reviews 88% Audience Score 50+ Ratings As part of a strange hazing ritual, a young medical student (Jan Nowicki) is given a brand-new piggy bank and sword, then left to fend for himself among the financial and social ills of a bafflingly warped Warsaw, Poland. Before long, the student glimpses -- and subsequently falls in love with -- a beautiful trolley driver (Joanna Szczerbic). He is then forced to contend with people behaving like animals, fend off cars with his saber and scale walls lined with livestock as he chases after her. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Josh Slater-Williams Vague Visages If some of the political nuances of the rest of the film may confound non-Polish viewers, this scene seems pretty clear; it may not be Skolimowki’s middle finger that’s being pointed, but the intent seems similar. Nov 13, 2023 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews This is a well-conceived surreal satire, whose success promoted Skolimowski to be spokesman for the cynical new Polish generation. Rated: B+ Mar 29, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member The barrier between the generations, between a man and a woman, between a man and all around him, between life and death. Very interesting surrealist film with a great visual style and a really good score. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member the first time i saw this i had no fucking clue what was going on, but with a little patience you develop an understanding not based on concrete occurrences but on the emotional state of the characters - skolimowski maps a geography of isolation in this allegorical tale where his characters are divided by their desires to free themselves of a system only to find themselves systemized again, its a paradox of ideals in which there is no way out. they discover that ultimately what they need and can have if willing to concede is each other. its a brilliant picture, a work of pure visual dialogue as the interaction between characters is elusive and always in passing - it possesses the bold sense of mystery that is missing in all contemporary cinema: seductiveness. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Bariera can be considered to be Skolimowski's jazziest film, not only because of Komeda's great music score, but because of it's loose non-linear structure and inventive style. The long takes and realistic foundation of his previous works are here long gone and replaced by a bizarre abstract fantasy world, a grotesque evaluation of postwar Polish life. The barrier of the film's title points at the growing gap between the generation who lived through the war and the one that desperately seeks independence from a perhaps only imagined glorious past. All wrapped up in a surprisingly simple love story. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Barrier

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis As part of a strange hazing ritual, a young medical student (Jan Nowicki) is given a brand-new piggy bank and sword, then left to fend for himself among the financial and social ills of a bafflingly warped Warsaw, Poland. Before long, the student glimpses -- and subsequently falls in love with -- a beautiful trolley driver (Joanna Szczerbic). He is then forced to contend with people behaving like animals, fend off cars with his saber and scale walls lined with livestock as he chases after her.
      Director
      Jerzy Skolimowski
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Runtime
      1h 24m