Chleb i sól (2022): When a successful rising pianist returns home for the holidays, we are given the chance to witness the clash between his old life and the simmering racial tensions within the community. Tymo comes with an interesting vantage point, something common to those who leave home and discover that they might just not belong as much when they return. The movie is strong in conjuring the way this feeling ebbs and flows, often leaving commentary in its subtext (quite the opposite of Obet) and some emotionally effective bits of classical music elevate key scenes in this story about fractured lives. Its only shortcoming is a desire to deliver a narrative pay-out, instead of reestablishing the real dread of racial tensions – that even when they don’t overflow into violence, they feed into a cycle of mistrust, disregard and trauma, eating at the social fabric. 8
Wir könnten genauso gut tot sein (2022): The close we move into real world dystopias, the more room there is for dystopic cinema. Or is it the other way around? In “We Might As Well Be Dead”, a community living in an isolated building within a secure, gated environment is tested when fear of an intruder starts spreading. Meanwhile, our lead, Anna (Ioana Iacob), who is responsible for security of the location, also struggles to get her daughter to leave the bathroom, who fears that her projections of pain and hurt towards others will obligatorily come true if she does so. There is mystery, tension and some drama in this beautifully shot movie by Natalia Sinelnikova, but I am a staunch warrior against labelling movies as comedies when they are at best abstractly satirical. I didn’t particularly enjoy the way the community is portrayed with almost no individuality, something that’s a common feature in these dystopic stories, but did like to watch the story unfold nonetheless. 7
Incroyable, mais vrai (2022): The Quentin Dupieux cult strikes again! Can’t really say I feel much closer to vibing with the oddities that Dupieux builds his movies around after this one, but there are some good moments of observational levity throughout. Between a de-aging manhole in the basement and an electronic penis, Alain (Duval in the movie, Chabat in real life) still finds time to stress about the everyday – work, social ties, fishing. That’s opposed to his wife or his boss, who lose themselves in different ways while running after some permanence of youth, which is pretty much the crux of the story. Beautiful to look at, not always witty enough for me to truly enjoy, it’s another Dupieuxpiece. 6
Obet (2022): A quintessentially grim Eastern European movie, Obet (Victim) tells the story of Irina and her son Igor, Ukrainians living in the Czech Republic. After Igor is taken into the emergency room following an apparent attack, tensions flare and everyone angles into the story to follow their own self-interest. It’s an age-old tale of discrimination and lies, as we follow Irina trying to make ends meet while coping with a profoundly unusual situation. Vita Smachelyuk performance keeps the movie together, which is admirable given how much Oblet demands of her. The problem is that the story ultimately fails to bridge concept and characters, focusing too much on dishing up social commentary in dramatic fashion, without finding real intimacy in the lives of its protagonists. 6
Încă două lozuri (2023): After enjoying the first movie (Două lozuri), I hoped to have a good time with the sequel as well. People around me seemed to do so, but I struggled. Negoescu still has a good eye and the framing of his set-pieces always makes the most out of the situations. He is patient and deliberate, varying between close and wide shots to good effect. The movie has a good rhythm and decent comic timing, with its leads likable, if rather bland. Where it hits trouble is in the uneven quality of its set-ups, often lacking freshness or choosing to pick low hanging fruit. Even with a movie that sticks so close to this old-school genre type, in which the plot is just an excuse for comic relief, there’s got to be more to it. 5
tributary stu 