LES BARBARES (MEET THE BARBARIANS) (France 2024) ****

Directed by Julie Delpy

Actress Julie Delpy (star of films by Godard, Kieslowski and Linklater) directs her own film, proving herself totally apt and a force to be reckoned with.  She centres her sights on comedy with a message with a film that matters that she delivers in style with lots of hilarity, drama and a bit of satire.  The story is set in Paimpont, a small town in France, preparing to welcome a Ukrainian refugee family and is surprised when a Syrian family shows up instead.  Every town has its patriots, loyalists and racists, all of whom show their influence on the Syrian family, but that is not perfect as well.  Delpy shows the good and bad of both sides with a touching romance between the young Syrian teen in the family and a local French boy to bridge the gap of racism.  It might be too obvious, but the ploy works.  And the town actually exists.  Paimpont sits nestled in Brittany, content with its centuries-old heritage, its crêpes (the Brittany people cook everything with lots of butter, which is also incorporated in the script), and its flattering self-image—a marvellous surprise from Delpy.

  In LES BARBARES, director Delpy balances the comedy and drama of the film very well.  The comedy and drama both derive from the cultural differences of France and Syria.  Both are also accomplished in segments, well put together, as in the best one, where the two Syrian children go to the French school for their very first time.  They meet the white kids, one of whom says: ‘Do not look them in he eye,' as all of them face downwards and the Syrian girl and her younger brother arrive.   The drama is largely derived from the family searching and waiting for news of their missing brother, Farid.

I have seen the film twice, initially when it premiered at TIFF and again currently when it got a commercial release.  The film was entirely enjoyable at TIFF, especially when watching a comedy for a change during a week when I watch 5 films a day.  I did not find the film that funny the second time, though the film still managed to elicit quite a few laugh-out-loud laughs from me.

A few good jokes here, especially with the village receiving information that they are getting a Syrian instead of a Ukrainian family.  “I already learn to make borscht,” says one.   Ukrainians are high on the refugee list, and they ran out of Ukrainians.

And what does the Syrian family and the French village talk about?  “Isn’t it not too cold here?”  the Syrians are asked, who then say to each other: “All they do is ask about the weather.”

But the film’s best is the segment in which Mdm. Joelle’s class of students each talks about what racism is to them.  ‘Leading to suicide from non-confidence, fear of the unknown, hatred of people who are different, etc.’ are a few of the responses.

MEET THE BARBARES is a funny and entertaining French comedy, the best of what commercial French films have to offer, while delivering a powerful message about refugees and living together in harmony in a light and effective way.

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