Just like the iconic doll she wears, Barbie can be anything she wants: a frivolous yet committed film, a feminist manifesto, a comedy, an insult, or even a coming-of-age film. In any case, see it at the cinema!
Hilarious, irreverent, wonderfully critical. With Barbie, Greta Gerwig packs not a film, but a journey into a world where reality and appearance fight; a mantra for all generations who aspire to create a society not governed by the vulgar difference between feminism and patriarchy, but by mutual respect and fairness.
Barbie Movie Story:
Barbie Land, the pink island where all the Mattel dolls live, is a socially unbalanced and enchanted place in which perfection is overwhelming, to the point that the protagonist's mask cracks under the weight of existential questions: the idea of death puts her heels on the ground, causes her anxiety, fear, and inadequacy and suddenly that figure with a slender silhouette and a dazzling smile begins to notice the exciting brutality of real life. A crack has opened in that world of hers, there is a tear in that paper sky and it is painfully beautiful; it lines the face of tears, of a new awareness that pushes the protagonist on the precipice of the sublime.
Barbie would like to stop seeing, knowing, and feeling emotions, yet that portal between the real and the apparent world is now open, and entering it is equivalent to questioning, suffering, and changing.
Barbie Movie Analysis:
Barbie can transform continuously, touching the shores of romantic comedy, coming-of-age and existential drama. She knows how to make us think without weighing us down, to judge us without justifying or pitying us. The film follows Robbie's evolutionary rhythm and, if at the beginning she is convinced a stereotypical Barbie, certain that thanks to their mission equality exists in the world, going forward in the narration she realizes the joke and hypocrisy, starting from the fact that there isn't a single woman on Mattel's board. Here too, however, Barbie knows how to preserve her supremacy: they would like to cage her, hold her tightly to the box with ties on her wrists, but she runs away with disarming ease, in a chase that smacks a lot of Fast and Furious.
In this chaos of cinematic references, it is good to underline the skill of a cast that does not always find space to express itself. As was suspected, in fact, Margot Robbie dominates the scene, followed by Ryan Gosling. The rest of the interpreters act as a side dish without being able to fully rattle off their three-dimensionality, but still leaving their mark; from the CEO of Mattel to whom Will Ferrell lends his face to Allan by Michael Cera up to the inimitable Helen Mirren, narrator of the feature film.
Barbie: assessment and conclusion
Ultimately, Barbie is a film for everyone but perhaps not everyone can understand and appreciate and this depends on the way of thinking, the gender of belonging, the perception one has of society and one's place in the world, and, of course, also on age.
It is not a masterpiece, but a film full of charisma and style, using bright colors, impeccable interpretations, and an over-the-top technical sector (in addition to the aforementioned, it is a must to mention the production designer Sarah Greenwood, the visual effects supervisor Glen Pratt, the musical supervisor George Drakoulias), entertains perfectly, arousing simple laughs or, if you are so sharp and well prepared, excellent criticisms and heated debates.
Just like the iconic doll she brings to the stage, Barbie can be whatever she wants: a frivolous yet committed film, a feminist manifesto, a comedy, an insult, or even a coming-of-age film. In any case, see it at the cinema!
Barbie, which also stars America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Ariana Greenblatt, Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, and Dua Lipa, is in theaters from July 20, 2023, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and produced by Heyday Films, LuckyChap Entertainment, NB/GG Pictures, Mattel.
The film is produced by David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Robbie Brenner with Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich, and Cate Adams serving as executive producers.