The journey of «Barbie», from fantasy to reality

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The existential crisis of the best-selling doll in the world: this can be summed up as “Barbie”, the highly anticipated film by Greta Gerwig which arrived this week in Italian cinemas after a powerful hype.
Before even seeing it, everything has already been written around this film, between prejudices and a strong curiosity, also dictated by the names of the two screenwriters, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, one of the most popular couples within the context of American independent cinema in recent years.
How is it possible that the director of “Lady Bird” and the author of “The Squid and the Whale” and “Marriage Story” have chosen a project focused on the famous doll and her enchanted world?
A first answer comes immediately from the plot, because if it is true that the universe in which Barbie moves seems perfect, shadows and fears begin to lurk within her that will lead her to question her existence. During this journey full of questions, Barbie and Ken will even end up in the real world and things will get even more complicated for them.

Opened by a fun sequence-parody of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Barbie” is a visually ambitious film, capable of perfectly rendering the magical world of Barbie, with its pastel colors and the poses of the characters that directly refer to the way of playing with dolls.

Few really effective ideas

The ideas behind the film are interesting – especially in relation to the contrast between the world of fantasy and that of reality, linked to the relationship between the feminine and the masculine – but they are very few and end up repeating themselves constantly in the course of a redundant narrative. There is no shortage of amusing moments, but they are not enough to make an entertainment that works only on and off and ends up gradually fading away in the second part. to intrigue, but it was reasonable to expect something more intriguing.

Good test of Margot Robbie in the role of the protagonist: it is by far the best of the entire cast.

The alternate

It certainly didn’t get the media attention of “Barbie”, but “The substitute” deserves a mention, the new film by Argentine director Diego Lerman.