just got back from seeing this at a local art-house theater in rome, italy. it's showing as part of the "cannes in rome" week, a great way to stay in touch without the mess of the festival itself.
anyway, i was impressed, struck if you will, by the crudity of the cinematography of the film at first. then, more and more, it became clear to me that this rough and unpleasant hue was just what the story, the place and the moment in history needed.
romania is not a real place to most people in the world, at best a place we have seen some terrible news images of, related to the darkness of egomaniacal dictatorship and it's eventual overthrow in our generations lifetime (sorry teens, not you for the most part). interestingly enough, probably for budgetary reasons, the film doesn't include any kind of discernible treatment or view of a town/city or it's inhabitants at all. yet, despite the absence of a fuller description of place and time, the filmmakers are able to convey what such a regime has produced on many levels ranging from the personal-moral to the societal-cultural.
from the starkness of the cinematographer's visual treatment; ugly, neon greens fading to grey blacks, to the hardness of the physical environment; cold, wet grey parking lots, garishly neon lit hotel lounges, the director and his team paint a synthetic picture of a no-joy, no-hope, no-way-to-think-about-morals world.
this setup is perfectly complimented by the film's matter of fact and intentionally simple but very controlled story telling style. not for a minute does the viewer get invited to participate in any hypothetical or practical moral choice concerning life or abortion, but, at least for those that come with an open heart and mind, find themselves drawn into the abyss of the story's protagonist, otila (Anamaria Marinca), an onlooker like ourselves, alas a participant to the consequences of a variety of her friends personal choices. nonetheless, this abyss doesn't create a huge, melodramatic, external response in her, and i credit the film for giving us a heroine, who, despite being neither truly likable nor morally upright, is still a fine example of a strong human being, albeit or perhaps precisely because she was produced (in part) by a cold regime, it's historic and cultural background and it's subsequent society.
i cannot pretend to say with any authority that the spirit i captured in this film is authentically romanian, but i perceived it as such. otila's decisive but understated way of putting her counterparts - Gabita, Dr. Bebe, (how cruel a name) and her own boyfriend - in place with a few sharp words, perfectly fits the image i have made over the years of the romanians (and other former soviet controlled peoples) i have met personally.
so, filmboy39 et al, what's this movie about? to me certainly not just about abortion. yes, the baby dies (call it fetus if you must), yet i wasn't left with that as my main thought exiting the theater or discussing it afterward with my friends. personally i'd likely have preferred almodovar's treatment of a strong "huwoman", but this work speaks of strength and overcoming impossibilities in an inhuman world, a theme that surely resounds in most, certainly in aldomovar. hence, i credit Cristian Mungiu for his successful attempt of going, not beyond the morals of this issue, but on a road less traveled, into a sharing of the what brings people to such choices despite clearly knowing and wanting better. anybody read the story of the logger who cut off his own leg to survive? happens everyday!
