Posterized: Romanian Cinema
Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 2:00PM by Nathaniel R
Romanian cinema was largely neglected and underfunded until after the fall of Communism in 1989. Things began to pick up after that. In the mid-Aughts the country's cinema became a critical cause with prize-winning films emerging with great frequency. The country's most acclaimed cinema is often categorized by gallows humor and incisive or satiric socioeconomic and political commentary.
For the second episode of this new season of "Posterized" and "Making Waves" a retrospective of Romanian cinema currently playing a US tour, we've selected the (arguably) 15 most famous and/or acclaimed films from the country over the past 30 years. How many of these have you seen? Don't feel bad if your number is very low (we haven't seen the majority of them either) but do you see anything you've been meaning to catch up with or that now piques your interest?
Carnival Scenes (1981, Lucian Pintille) Banned until the fall of Communism in 1989, this influential bitter ensemble comedy eventually became their Oscar submission in 1990.
Hotel de Lux (1992, Dan Pita) - Oscar submission. An allegorical film about a luxury hotel that operates like a Communist country. It won the Silver Lion at Venice
Philanthropy (2002, Nae Caranfil) - Oscar submission. Another dark comedy, this one about a middle aged teacher out for a quick buck who falls for a young fellow con artist posing as his wife.
The Death of Mr Lazarescu (2005, Cristi Piuiu) -Oscar submission. A damning critical sensation (it won the Un Certain Regard at Cannes and many other prizes) about medical bureaucracies and a old widower who lives alone with cats and the nurse who attempts to help him. The running time has thus far kept me away but I've only ever heard that it's brilliant. Have you seen it?
12:08 East of Bucharest (2006, Corneliu Porumboiu) - A comedy about a talk show host, a professor, and a pensioner and the history of their town. Camera D'Or winner at Cannes and an Indie Spirit nomination too.
The Way I Spent the End of the World (2006, Catalin Mitulescu) -Oscar submission. A film about a teenage girl and her little brother, one dreaming of escaping Communist Romania by swimming across the Danube, the other plotting with other children to assassinate the dictator. A Best Actress prize in Cannes Un Certain Regard section.
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2007, Cristian Mungiu) - This abortion drama won the Palme D'Or at Cannes before a Golden Globe nomination, and an infamous Oscar snub. It helped change AMPAS rules leading to the formation of the Executive Committee to make Oscar's international category safer for instant masterpieces. It is also the highest grossing Romanian film in the US, cracking a million in US arthouses in the early months of 2008 despite or perhaps because of the controversy surrounding the Oscar snub.
Police, Adjectif (2009, Cornelia Porumboiu) - Oscar submission. A drama about a policeman investigating a teenage boy's drug use. It won the Jury Prize at Cannes Un Certain Regard.
Tuesday, After Christmas (2010, Radu Muntean) - a must-see for fans of relationship dramas. An uninhibited drama about an extramarital affair. Amazing performances.
If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (2010, Florin Serbian) - Oscar submission. A drama about a juvenile offender about to be released from prison whose mother resurfaces.
Beyond the Hills (2012, Cristian Mungiu) - Oscar submission. A drama about two women in an Eastern Orthodox convent. Unless 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days was in the dread sixth spot at the Oscar (we'll never know) this other critical darling from Mungiu is the Romanian film that came closest to a nomination as it made the finalist list (the two-step process initiated shortly after 4 Months's snub). Sadly, no Romanian film has ever been Oscar-nominated and this is the sole entry that has made the finalist list to date. Winner of Best Screenplay at Cannes.
Child's Pose (2013, Calin Peter Netzer) - Oscar submission, festival favourite (Berlin's Golden Bear), and a must-see for Actressexuals with a totally fierce performance by one of Romania's most exciting actors Luminita Gheorghiu (EFA nomination) as a grieving but amoral mother.
Aferim! (2015, Radu Jude) - Oscar submission. While the bulk of popular Romanian films are set in the present or the very recent past this adventure film about a cop trying to find a Gypsy slave is set in the 19th century. Best Director at Berlin and a Foreign Film win at the OFCS.
Graduation (2016, Cristian Mungiu) - This parental drama won Best director prize at Cannes (for the oft-celebrated Mungiu) plus César and EFA nominations... but it wasn't Romania's choice for the Oscar submission. Due to...
Sierranevada (2016, Cristi Puiu) - Oscar submission. A three hour dramedy about a family gathering for the patriach's funeral.
How many of those 15 pictures have you seen? If it's only 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days... which of these titles most intrigues you?
If you're interested in this topic be on the lookout for "Making Waves" a 30 Film Retrospective on Romanian Cinema that is touring various museums and arthouses through May 2020. It's hitting Philadelphia's Lightbox Film Center in March and is also playing at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle.
Reader Comments (14)
I was literally just thinking about Tuesday, After Christmas yesterday (because...Mimi Branescu...grrrr)! I've seen a few of these, namely the aforementioned, the two Mungius and Child's Pose. All of them are stellar. Mungiu is brilliant and 4M3W2D is one of the most daring and brutally honest movies I've ever seen. Tragic that it didn't win the Oscar, let alone even snag a nomination.
Not mentioned is Porumboiu's very underrated "The Treasure," possibly my favorite of his.
I've seen the 3 Mungius and that's it, but that's about to change when The Whistlers opens.
4 Months gets all the attention, but Beyond the Hills is incredible too. (And won a shared best actress at Cannes, as well.)
10 - much greatness here - 4 Months is the obvious all-timer but Child's Pose and Aferim are also personal favourites
Caught Whistlers recently too. Lots more fun than I expected.
I've seen all the Cristian Mungius, plus CHILD'S POSE and SIERRANEVADA.
Great post.
I've seen Mr Lazarescu, 4 Months, Child's Pose, Graduation and Sierranevada. They're all quite excellent. Luminita is a force of nature. A Romanian Geraldine Page.
I wanted to see Beyond the Hills in theaters but I couldn't find the time at the moment because it's so long and now I can't find it any platform.
I recall you were quite into If I Want to Whistle..., weren't you?
The only one I saw was The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. I can't believe it was marketed as a comedy, because it was one of the most devastatingly depressing films I have ever seen, a tragically realistic look at modern day health care. Perhaps I missed some of the humor in the dialogue just because the sense of despair was so permeating.
So far, 3 in The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, & 2 Days, and Police, Adjective.
I think Diving Bell and the Butterfly was the big foreign snub in 2007. Nominated for several best pics and winning some for directing among others.
I have seen most of the Romanian films with English subtitles but I am sure the underrated cinematic gems this country produced that didn't get global distribution or the right connection to be screened in international film festivals is tremendous.
I thought 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days is one of the best horror films I've seen and the reason is because, unlike the standard fare horror, the story of Otilia and Gabita can be true anywhere where the underworld that makes the unthinkable possible might be your one true friend. This is the film that made me prefer non-acting 'acting' performances because of Anamaria Marinca. She's mesmerising.
Everytime I see films like Beanpole, Disobedience and even Heavenly Creatures from 1994 (which I only saw a couple years of ago for the first time), I always think of Beyond the Hills. Once again non-professional actors carried the day of this beautifully tragic story that is as intimately epic as any Bergman film. The Death of Mr Lazarescu is like a cross between 4 Months... and Dirty Pretty Things -- all are about common people abjected by the system. The "illegal" undertakings turn out to be the one that provide cathartic closures for the characters and I can see why common people resort to these activities when you see that the state that is supposed to take care of you fails you. Whether unintended or not, the film is also funny and at times even hilarious much in the same way as Roy Andersson's films. Much like Graduation which I thought is better than Sieranevada, I can see the story happening in real life. Although I am not sure I can do what Adrian Titieni's character did for his daughter, look what Felicity Huffman et al did for their kids in the country's biggest college admission scandal.
I'm surprised there is no mention here of Radu Jude's I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians which I thought was quite daring in its theme of historical revisionism. A bit like Goodbye, Lenin!, Nova Lituania (Czechia), and 1898, Our Last Men in the Philippines (the last one's from Spain), Radu Jude's film is about reconstruction of national (Romanian) mythologies. Can be polarising but this is why we all engage in dialectical conversations and debates in life.
And I like The Whistlers because it proceeds in its own cinematic language, its own storytelling pace, and flawed or not, remain compelling through the end (which ended in an unusual Asian city).
Y - It wasn't the French submission.
You can check the complete list here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_submissions_for_the_Academy_Award_for_Best_International_Feature_Film
Owl -- i disliked "I Do Not Care If We..." but mostly it was already hard to whittle this down to 15.
I HATED Police, Adjective and I remember liking Tuesday, After Christmas (but can’t remember it now for the life of me). 4 Months is an undisputed masterpiece and Beyond the Hills is severely underrated. Romanian cinema really hit its peak in the mid - late ‘00s.
Nathaniel -- fair point.
My wife and I differ how we view films. She is moved by the coherence of a story, the emotional gravitas of the narrative, and acting prowess of performers onscreen. I realise that strangely enough I don't really dislike films inn general -- I see them more as texts: they can sometimes be hard to 'read' or unconvincing (but never boring), while others strike a chord the same way a good book or album can resonate without us knowing why and how. I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians has a provocative premise that I thought ultimately delivered despite some unnecessary detours. I do have favorite films too, by the way, and these films are those that come close to being ethnographic, or documentary-like. Good performance is usually ones where there is almost no 'acting' in a grandstanding way. It ranges from 4 Months... and Life is Sweet to Gavagai and Distant Voices, Still Lives. Don't get me wrong I also like theater where gestures are broader, more expansive but they must serve the story rather than call attention to themselves. I'm weird (not to mention boring) that way.