Mark Rylance is terrific in Ciro Guerra's beautiful indictment of the colonial machine; Guerra clearly had no problem directing, the engrossing synchronicity of every aspect of the film a testament to his visionary mind
evocatively photographed by Chris Menges, Guerra's stately, frequently horrific fifth feature recalls both Kafka’s In the Penal Colony and Graham Greene, with Rylance as a sad sack powerless to stop the ruthlessly mechanical infliction of pain
as a viewer, it requires hard work to feel something that goes deeper than common-sense pity when confronted with stock characters stuck in a generic predicament in a nonspecific time and place
"Waiting for the Barbarians" is a film that puts on its best clothes, assumes its most sober voice, and then stands tall to tell us: Imperialism Is Bad. The message is not wrong, but it certainly is a disappointing use of Guerra's talent
