Barbara

Barbara received nothing but rave reviews when it made the art house circuit last year. The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque showed the German film a few times and is bringing it back again for two more screenings. The film centers on Barbara (Nina Hoss), a physician working in East Germany in 1980. She works at a crappy, underfunded hospital near the Baltic Sea where she’s been sent for discipline. She’s plotting an escape but begins to feel sorry for the poor patients she treats and starts to rethink her strategy. There’s nothing flashy about the film —it’s essentially a story about a person caught in a moral dilemma—but Hoss is so terrific in the role, she makes it a worthwhile investment of your time. (Jeff Niesel)