As is often the case with film productions that invest millions to secure an exhibition showcase, the final product ends up being disappointing. The risk of not meeting the high expectations that the viewer has created is high. Greta Gerwig and his team knew this beforehand, showing us that it can be avoided by welcoming us with a sensational piece that borders on excellence and surprises us for good. It is true that, a priori, prejudices can play a trick on us because thinking that we will attend the encounter with another film from a major like Warner Bros, in the shadow of Hollywood and played by an American cast championing Yankee culture, is inevitable. “Barbie”, however, is the exception that proves the rule; We end up witnessing a feminist political-social argument that questions gender roles, taking refuge in a deeply complex script, which goes with second lines and is loaded with subliminal messages, all under the umbrella of comedy. A large device deployed in such an ingenious way that it leaves us speechless during the two hours of footage.
The film is itself a process of systematic deconstruction that begins with a voice-over announcing the arrival of something new. That is when Margot Robbie enters the scene, replacing the old with the new, that is, a paradigm shift with which an updated Barbie arrives to transmute everything. Right then, Gerwig makes clear what the message is and how it will be translated into the film: the stereotypical is reduced to rubble from within, while the protagonist attends a journey of self-discovery to make sense of her own existence; giving rise to a discourse built on the basis of the filmmaker-spectator dialogue breaking the fourth screen on several occasions. It is precisely the viewer who has just put together the puzzle of the fictional pact. The proof of this is the endless number of artistic references –“2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Matrix”, “In Search of Lost Time”– that are resignified to erect a particular meaning among the whole. Likewise, special mention goes to the magnificent production design that manages to immerse us in the aesthetically superficial world so characteristic of the cliché doll; a dreamy imaginary crowned by the details, authentic protagonists of the film.
Despite there being moments that ecstatic us more than others, it is impossible to get bored given the enormous amount of stimuli constantly bombarding us. In any case, whoever looks closely enough will see that “what is essential is invisible to the eye”, as he said Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Then, as far as script twists are concerned, we didn’t fall short either. Same as with the musical artifact. Too bad that such a promising soundtrack falls into mediocrity except for a couple or three hits. That being said, the interpretation of the duo Robbie-Gosling he has just put the chili pepper on a sweetly packaged cake that delights us without us knowing that we needed it. “Barbie” It is an original work that brings to life a sunken sector in the current of live actions and remakes at the same time that it speaks of existentialism and honors pop culture. It is a love letter to women that invites those with fragile masculinity to review their privileges. The impact of Greta Gerwig’s definitive consecration as a director – ending pre-established clichés with elegance and humor – will be colossal. In fact, she already is. This is the cinematographic event that we hadn’t been able to enjoy for so long and from which we left with a childish smile illuminated by the most radiant color of all: pink.