With eight movies in just over two decades, actress turned filmmaker Julie Delpy has carved out a curious niche for herself on both sides of the Atlantic. Based in Los Angeles but working predominantly in France, collaborating with Richard Linklater (the Before trilogy) on one hand and Gallic stars like Dany Boon (Lolo) on the other, switching from drama (The Countess) to comedy (Le Skylab) and back again (My Zoe), Delpy, like the frazzled characters she often plays on screen, isn’t easy to pin down.
And yet her latest work, the refugee satire Meet the Barbarians (Les Barbares), is probably her most bluntly French film to date, and certainly her most political one. But it may also be her least funny movie, steeping to clichés and caricature in its depiction of a picturesque Breton village that welcomes a family of Syrians escaping from the war. Sporting a heartfelt pro-immigrant message that feels welcome in these politically divided times, it should play best…
