MovieChat Forums > Barbara (2012) Discussion > what I thought was a goof

what I thought was a goof

posted 11 years ago by anne-536
17 replies | jump to latest

Dr. Barbara lights her cigarette and sets down a BIC lighter on the table.
I hardly think these lighters were even that common in the USA in 1980, but certainly not in the DDR.
When I travelled in West Germany in 1986, Germans used matches (or fancy lighters) almost entirely, and that's all I ever got to use while there. (But, for what it's worth, I never was a fan of BICs, so maybe I was blind to them.)
Maybe I should post in 'GOOFS' page, no?

Anyway, I loved this film, and I love Nina Hoss' acting.

[–] DogtownGirl 11 years ago

Anne,

Good call!

Yes, go to the "goofs" area of IMDb and submit this, please.

PROUD member of PETA: People for the Eating of Tasty Animals

[–] anne-536 11 years ago

I posted the factual error. We'll see how long it takes to post. Currently, there are no goofs, but I somewhat recollect a few others. Guess I'll have to see it again. (An excuse to see Nina Hoss again.)

[–] DogtownGirl 11 years ago

PLEASE see the film again, and again, and again.

I've seen it FOUR times, and am going to make time to go to see it a FIFTH!

Yes, you read correctly, LOL

Say, do you think we're the only people who've seen the film? Seems like it, as we're the most vocal about it in this board's threads.

Now, what other goofs did you spot?

I'd love to know of them, anne.

SPOILERS AHEAD ..... SPOILERS AHEAD ..... SPOILERS AHEAD .....

One of mine: I could tell they didn't shoot at night at the end of the film, when Barbara took Stella down to the seaside to set her free! Yet, they did do night shooting earlier in the movie.

PROUD member of PETA: [b]People for the Eating of Tasty Animals

[–] jadzia92 11 years ago

A goof that this film has is that it did not have a Kathleen in it.

[–] DogtownGirl 11 years ago

Huh, jadzia92?

I don't get it, or were you just being sarcastic?

Did you see the film?

PROUD member of PETA: People for the Eating of Tasty Animals

[–] jadzia92 11 years ago

Hi DogtownGirl,
No I haven't seen the film as I made that comment after seeing the cast list. Barbara and Kathleen are the names of my wives.

[–] DogtownGirl 11 years ago

, I see jadzia ....

R.I.P. to a great & beloved American film Critic, Roger Ebert!

[–] WhoisThePrisoner1 10 years ago

I posted the factual error.

Why would you post something as fact, when you admit that you aren't certain, and based purely on the anecdotal?

[–] lindy-p 11 years ago

I did a little research and discovered that bic lighters were developed in 1974, so it's possible this isn't a goof.

[–] DogtownGirl 11 years ago

Thank you, lindy!

Good to see that people are getting into this film, in much the same way as I did!

I ended up seeing in SIX TIMES (yes, 6!) in the cinema. I didn't regret one viewing.

R.I.P. to a great & beloved American film Critic, Roger Ebert!

[–] nicholas-clarke 11 years ago

It's possible that copies of Bic lighters were made behind the iron curtain. Copies of a lot of Western things were available in the eastern bloc.

[–] Buff70 10 years ago

I don't know what the heck she's talking about either.
but hey, it gets our attention, and that's what some people seek on these forums :)

I grew up in the middle-east in the 1970s .. BIC was used everywhere there.
In fact most imports were from Germany and France at the time. I remember the popularity of BIC as a child, it was everywhere around us.

[–] jeroenvanmarle 11 years ago

But her lover brought all kinds of things for her from West Germany, which she openly used, like cigarettes. Why not a Bic lighter, which was popular all across the west?

[–] !!!deleted!!! (41638798) 10 years ago

Exactly.

It's probably not a goof at all.

The story has her enjoying all manner of special treats from her West German boyfriend---especially the cigarettes in the royal blue packaging.

A Bic lighter would be a great convenience for her to enjoy--no worrying about matches being available, no need to carry an expensive lighter, presuming you could actually obtain one in a Communist country with limited things already.

So the Bic lighter would be yet another West German status symbol in a way.

This director was very precise in the way he portrayed everything. So in that context I took the Bic lighter to be another prop to show she was being supplied things by the boyfriend to make her life a little easier.

[–] anne-536 10 years ago

As a reply to myself, and those who question my concern that this use of a BIC is a goof:
BIC says on their website that they didn't introduce product into Eastern Europe until 1995. I realize that The Wall came down before that and product would obviously drift into the States, but this film pre-dates all that.
The Lighter was introduced to the public in 1973 (invented in '72).

[–] PsychoDingo 8 years ago

OK, but Barbara has a boyfriend that brings her things from western Europe, such as her cigarettes, so the years of the wall coming down or introduction of the product in eastern Europe are irrelevant.

The lighter was available in western Europe before 1980. Barbara receives products from western Europe. Therefore, Barbara could have had that sort of lighter.

[–] sagilet 10 years ago

I wouldn't bet on that, but the fashion catallogue and the lighter for me are so 80's