In her successful acting career, Julie Delpy (“Before Sunrise”) has worked with a number of directing stars from the front row since the 1980s, including Jean-Luc Godard, Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Richard Linklater and Volker Schlöndorff. This was not without consequences: since 2007 Julie Delpy regularly directed himself, mostly with comedies. This certainly includes a certain courage, after all, funny films are not particularly difficult, they are dominated as male as craftsmanship. You absolutely have to master the nasty craft, especially in the comedic subject – because without a safe dramaturgy and coherent timing, even the most beautiful punch lines don't.
In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Julie Delpy once said about her first two comedies, “2 days Paris” and the sequel “2 days of New York” that she would very much appreciate the idea of ”naughty French”. In her latest film “The barbarians – welcome to Brittany“Stop on it again in this area! The result is a culture clash dramedy, the qualities of which are only really evident in the course of the action. Then only the sensitive and clever nuances are revealed, which prevent it from going too flat and superficially here.
Did the mayor Sébastien (Jean-Charles Clichet) and the teacher Julie (Julie Delpy) really only start the project with the best intentions?
At the beginning, the village of Paimpont in Brittany-in the very north of France-presents itself as a small but advanced community with an extremely media-conscious mayor: A film for regional television is currently being made, in which Sébastien Lejeune (Jean-Charles Clichet) is once again praising the sleepy town in the highest tones. The latest sensation: The population of Paimpont wants to – initiated by the teacher Julie (director Julie Delpy herself) – to take Ukrainian refugees. The entire municipal council has already spoken out for it, even the nationalist -minded Hervé (Laurent Lafitte) is included.
But there is a little problem: there are simply no Ukrainian refugees left! The general willingness to help was too great, which is why they have now all stayed elsewhere. Instead, only one Syrian refugee family is left-and the mayor even started with his Ukrainian lessons. So was everything for nothing? Or are Muslim refugees at least better than no refugees to make the flame of democracy and the light of tolerance glow?
Welcome to Paimpont
With open irony, Julie Delpy asks whether there is actually something like good and bad refugees? Your film starts with video recordings that show a village that could also come from an Asterix comic, which is located in modernity. Practically the entire population is more or less lovingly caricatured, especially the media horny mayor and the busy, slightly overwhelmed teacher. Their best friend (Sandrine Kiberlain) is also a depressive drinker, while her organic farmer father is in constant clinch with the local nazi. An accumulation of typical clichés, which are sometimes quite strange, but also (and not only since yesterday) seem slightly worn.
Comparisons with “Welcome to the Sch'tis” are obvious: Brittany as a place of action, the proud local population, its provincial behavior, the village intrigue …
But Julie Delpy and her co-scratch authors do not make the mistake of not racing around on the tried and tested clichés. Instead, with the arrival of the Fayad family, they bring in a second sound color, which makes “the barbarians – welcome to the Brittany” in the sometimes dissonant interaction: suddenly here is a family that is strange who feels hardly welcome and struggles with their own strokes with which the family members have to get out of it themselves, because with the reality of life in pompont has all of this at first very little to do.
Because there were no more Ukrainian refugees left, Paimpont has to “make do with a Syrian family” for better or bad.
Here in the province, where the rumor mill traditionally begins to simmer particularly easily, racism and prejudices quickly meet. A explosive mix with possibly catastrophic consequences – and reason for a growing seriousness of the action: the threat of right -wing radical forces and the increased anti -Islam, of course, also affect the narrative ease of comedy. The frequently abrupt transitions between lovable humor and tragic seriousness could have been written and staged a little more elegant and liquid, but at the same time they give the comedy something very painfully realistic:
Here the harsh reality breaks into the peace-joy omelette atmosphere that Julie wants but will never reach. Julie Delpy plays the progressive teacher with a rather subliminal comedy and a nice dynamic, while Sandrine Kiberlain is almost even more convincing as an unfortunate passer – her character is increasingly gaining depth while that of Julie Delpy is stagnating. She remains the optimist, who sees the good in everything and expects the best of everyone. No matter what happens. After all, the question soon arises: Who are the barbarians here?
Conclusion: What initially looks like the X-TE well-intended, well-played and well-made refugee comedy turns out to be a fairly witty and background story about a village community and the situation-related examination of humanism and tolerance-without the latently resounding racism, the “Monsieur Claude” series.