Dir.: Corneliu Porumboiu 115 min., Romanian, Hebrew and English subtitles
Cast: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu, Ion Stoica Festivals: Cannes, Toronto, Hamburg, New York Awards: Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Prize, Un Certain Regard, 2009 (Cannes) Source: Coach 14
This beautifully acted, modern morality play from Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu (whose director's debut, 12:08 East of Bucharest, received a Camera d'Or at Cannes 2006) features what may be movie history's most absurdly protracted police sting operation, designed to catch a lone high school student in the act of selling drugs. Cristi, the cop assigned to the case, realizes the futility of the mission, though his attempts to convince his bureaucratic superiors are met with contempt, derision, and the reminder that it is not his place to question the letter of the law. But letters and laws-of both the legal and grammatical kind-are very much on Porumboiu's mind as the long, nearly wordless scenes of the film's first half give way to a show-stopping final act of Stoppardian verbosity in which cop and police chief (unforgettably played by Vlad Ivanov, the abortionist from 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) engage in an exhilarating verbal tennis match about conscience, personal morality and the true meaning of language.
Screenings
18:00 7/10/09 Cinematheque – Director attending 11:30 9/10/09 Cinematheque 17:30 10/10/09 Cinematheque For tickets: http://www.haifaff.co.il/Movie%20Info.php?id=1469
Tales from the Golden Age / Amintiri din Epoca de Aur Romania, France 2009
Dir.: Cristian Mungiu, Ioana Uricaru, Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Constantin Popescu 155 min., Romanian, English subtitles
Cast: Vlad Ivanov, Radu Iacoban, Diana Cavallioti, Teo Corban, Tania Popa, Emanuel Parvu, Liliana Mocanu Festivals: Cannes, Toronto, Sarajevo, London Source: Mobra Film, Bucharest / Courtesy of Lev Films and Cinemas Ltd., Tel Aviv
This comic and darkly ironic look at Romania under the Ceausescu regime uses urban myths from this so called 'golden age' to show the idiocies of daily life in a dictatorship, and the importance of humor in coping with its consequences. The project was conceived and scripted by Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), who also directs two of the episodes. The others are mostly directed by newcomers, and the film is presented as a collaborative effort.
Appropriately, and setting the tone, the film begins with The Legend of the Official Visit in which a village of ordinary rural folk are charged with ever more ridiculous and obsequious tasks in preparation for a state visit which may or may not happen. Other tales present a rudimentary approach to media manipulation, doctoring the image of the leader to make him look taller; the lengths to which people would go to relieve the monotony of the mid-80s Romanian diet; and the impact of the growth of free enterprise on individual lives. Added together, this unusually successful portmanteau film is both knowledgeable and knowing, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. It's a stylistic treat too, with intertitles designed to reflect the vernacular of the period, helping to catch the mood of the time.
Screenings
14:15 8/10/09 Cinematheque 10:30 10/10/09 Krieger Center for the Performing Arts
For tickets: http://www.haifaff.co.il/Movie%20Info.php?id=1448
The Romanian presence at the Haifa Film Festival is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv.
We wish to extend special thanks to Ms Pnina Blayer, artistic director of the Festival, for the efforts she has put into having the Romanian films participating in the Festival.
