Barbara 2012

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: "Barbara" is a film about the old Germany from one of the best directors working in the new: Christian Petzold. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Hoss' acting is a marvel of subtlety; her body language is precisely calibrated to reveal a great deal about the character's inner feelings by the slightest changes of posture and facial expression. Read more

Sam Adams, AV Club: Barbara is Hoss' fifth film with Petzold, and the movie rests on the depth and subtlety of their working relationship. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Hoss is fantastic. Barbara is ice cold at the start, understandably so. Yet Hoss makes her sympathetic. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The movie's quiet power comes from its air of meticulously maintained suspicion. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The occasional ravings of the patients, ringing off the walls in Petzold's measured quiet, provide an appropriate backdrop to the heroine's need for freedom, yet the movie's politics never trump its humanity. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: The plotting, the planning and the deepening relationships don't make for kinetic action, but they are the foundation for a smart, engrossing film. Read more

Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter: Tightly crafted East German drama delivers strong performances and late rewards. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's one terrific film, as smart, thoughtful and emotionally involving as just about anything that's out there. Read more

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic: It persuades us early on that its aura of political tension and suspicion, its taciturnity, its very strictness of silent observation as it begins, are fostering an intelligent thriller. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: A sturdy suspense story, set in Stasi-infected East Germany, rich in moral compromise, individual integrity and general desperation, it's elevated by Hoss to something sublime and unforgettable ... Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: [Leaves] you drained and horrified. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, NPR: Lit from within, like a lantern; Petzold has made a nighttime movie that ends right on the edge of dawn. Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: It's a quiet film built of careful details. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Hoss, wearing her blond hair pulled back tight, and wearing an expression of inscrutable melancholy, gives a performance that doesn't feel like a performance at all. Read more

Sheila O'Malley, Chicago Sun-Times: This is well-trod ground for Petzold, but never has it been so fully realized, so palpable, as in "Barbara." Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: The movie examines the possibility of maintaining one's humanity in a truly oppressive society. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Though the film runs a mere 105 minutes, it weighs on viewers like an eternity. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Sometimes, the sun shines and the wind blows fresh and the very elements that make for intense hardship also open a window on intense joy. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Hoss is mesmerizing as a woman who holds it all together to the point of losing herself. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Hoss gives a discreet, thought-provoking performance. Read more

Eric Hynes, Time Out: No special effect this year comes close to what Hoss can accomplish with simple but unbearably explosive eye contact. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: This wise and incisively crafted drama brings simmering intelligence and a dry, sardonic compassion to bear on its tale of two doctors slowly worming their way into each other's hearts and minds. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: A transfixing Cold War thriller set in the East Germany of 1980 ... Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "Barbara" re-visits the quiet, everyday tragedies of the Iron Curtain era, when paranoia ran deep and for very good reasons. Read more