Bacalaureat

Romeo is a middle aged doctor in the rural mountains of Transylvania, he and his wife have long since exhausted the passion of their union and he seeks such comforts elsewhere. Meanwhile he and his wife live to see their daughter graduate and move to England to study psychology at university. All she has to do is finish school.

Then on the day before her final exams start she get assaulted outside the school. She is now an emotional wreck and all the careful plans laid over the last eighteen years are in tatters. However, Romania is the sort of place where if you have the right connections you can make things happen and so after a lifetime of doing the right thing Romeo finds temptation knocking on his door, that is to do the wrong thing but, in his heart, it is for the right reasons.

This is a very European film in that it often leaves things hanging – like life it is not all packaged for easy consumption. There is no musical score which adds to the mundanity of what is supposed to be ordinary in anyone's life. The societal issues are all dealt with in a way that makes them more or less matter of fact whilst not detracting from the base wrong doings that seem to be rampant. This is a film that uses a simple story to discuss complex issues that go into the very depths of belief and values and as such is one that is easy to recommend to all fans of thoughtful European cinema.

Fist of all, Romanian movies are the most unique movies I've ever seen, so they deserve to be watched and talked about among those who watch. Bacalaureat (Graduation) is an example how you can make a masterpiece without extraordinary script, how you can see the very best of acting without some special dialogues, effects, etc. For those who are admirers of Hollywood this is not a perfect thing to watch. There is nothing special in this movie, nothing extraordinary, uncommon... However Bacalaureat is one of the most beautiful thing I've seen during the last few years. Romanians should be teachers to the other directors. I'm not sure if Romanians should say "thanks" to communism and isolation during the last century, I am not sure whether this is their way to express the feelings that they've had in the past. I am sure that this movie is a diamond among overambitious titles.

From the director of 'Beyond the Hills'. I have not seen many Romanian films, but a couple of his films, so I had an anticipation and it fulfilled that. If you are familiar with his works, you will love it too as well. It is an Oscar material like 'Toni Erdmann', but Romania had sent a different film. The film had achieved multiple things, including majorly highlighting the social issues and the education system, particularly from the parent's perspective. But it is basically about a father and his desperate attempts for his daughter for her better future. So it is something like 'Fathers & Daughter', but on one particular topic and the on- screen presentation was so realistic without the background score.

Everything revolved around what the title suggested. A father who is professionally a doctor wants to provide a better education for his daughter. While facing a series of vandalism, his family gets a major shock after an unexpected terrible event. It was just before the daughter's annual exam. So it seems they're all disturbed by it, but the father is still not giving up on his daughter's exam, which requires a better score to get into the best university in the world. Apart from that, his other side of the personal and professional life takes some major turns. The film reveals all his struggles while breaking some moral laws.

❝Sometimes, in life, it's the result that counts.❞

The tale was told from the father's perspective and that character was seen almost in every frame. A good father knows what's best for his child, but sometimes crossing limits is what they do because of love and care. On the other hand, growing up kids, especially turning eighteen means that's when they actually begin to meet the real world. So basically they want to lose their parents' influence in their life as much as possible like when a baby bird starting to stretch its wings. Those stuffs were not prioritised here, but understandable from the developments we witness.

From the social aspect, the corruption and educational demands, that's especially in the high scoring contest were the deriving plots from the main. The film could have been 10-15 minutes shorter if the father's professional side of the tale was not covered. It looked unnecessary, but fairly the part of the story when a slice of his life was what this film is about. I think not everybody sees the film's intention which is definitely not entertainment, nor inspiration, but kind of fact based on the parents.

Yeah, I would have done almost the same as what the father has done in this. But due to some parallel developments in the main story, he had to face extra pressure from his own family. So unexpected way the narration takes the turn towards the final section. That's disappointing if you had supported the father from the very beginning. But a lesson he had learnt for his approach to deal the affair that he thought is slipping away from his master plan.

Overall, a very good film, something you will learn how some people plan to deal a difficult stage of their life that's impacted by other surrounding developments. My only, slight disappointment was the crime part of the story which did not meet my expectation, but in most of the case that's how reality would be. So this is for particularly the drama film fans, because coping with the pace requires a little patience.

7/10

Seen at the Film Fest Ghent 2016 (website: filmfestival.be/en). In the last four years, I've seen several depressing movies about corruption in former Communist countries. It seems a popular topic in the area, as can be readily derived from noteworthy examples like Durak/The Fool (Bykov 2014), Dolgaya Schastlivaya Zhizn/A Long And Happy Life (Khlebnikov 2013), and Leviathan (Zvyagintsev 2014). Even though the movie at hand follows suit on the same path, it however winds up being not that depressing as the others. Especially the final scenes brought some silver lining for the country's future, albeit that I'm not so sure it is the actual message that the film makers try to drive home.

Anyway, the running time is more than 2 hours, but I could not spot any boring or redundant scene. Everything included in the script was necessary and useful, emphasizing how convoluted the tangled web became as woven by the various protagonists. It made abundantly clear that one step causes the next step, and so on and so on, until the point that no backpedaling is possible anymore. In other words, the original policy of our lead character Romeo may not have brought him wealth or influence in the past, yet his route was straightforward and devoid of complex deals deserving counter deals to make the circle round.

The threesome family seemed a happy family from the outset, which proved gradually untrue in small steps. The case was not that their problems were unnatural or far-fetched, therefore it took its time for the cracks to become visible. Progress developed slowly but steadily. It was a surprise, for me that is, that there was some sort of resolution in the end. It countered the assumed morale of this movie (my assumption), that there is no middle road in corruption: either one steers clear of it, or one gets involved in complex arrangements from which one cannot get loose once started.

All in all, two hours well spent while watching my favorite theme develop on screen, at the same time asking myself what I should have done in similar circumstances. Such thought provoking plots are very welcome, mostly also carrying an existential takeaway message hidden under an exercise for the viewer. We were taught that Honesty Is The Best Policy, but the plot of this movie lets you get doubts underway.

In order to let his daughter escape a corrupt country, the lead character in 'Bacalaureat' has to immerse himself in the corrupt system he despises. That's the central paradox and the moral dilemma in this film. Doctor Aldea, a surgeon in a small town in Romania, has one goal in his life: to let his daughter escape to 'civilisation'. This goal has come within reach when she is selected for a scholarship in Britain, provided she passes the exams with excellent results. When she is violently attacked a few days before the exams, there is a serious risk she won't pass the test. So the doctor decides to pull some strings.

But he has to cope with the moral consequences afterwards. Is the father still able to look his daughter in the eye, after having told her all her life that corruption is wrong? And what about his wife, who has made a point of never lowering her standards of integrity, and has paid for her righteousness with a low-paid and uninteresting job? Besides, how can he defend high moral standards when he is conducting an affair with a much younger woman? The doctor defends his moral integrity: the attack is an unforeseen emergency, and so exceptions to the rule are permitted. But does he believe so himself? Things are made more complicated because of his daughter's boyfriend, and her own doubts about the need to go to Britain.

The film looks at all sides of moral integrity, and doesn't offer straightforward solutions. In fact, a lot is left unanswered, as if the director wants to say that things are never very clear, and there is always room for doubt.

Apart from posing moral questions, the film also offers a fine view into modern Romanian society. 'You'll scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours' seems to be the national motto. The film offers little hope of improvement: the only character opposing this system is the doctor's wife. But she looks utterly depressed and, as the doctor points out, has only been able to keep her high moral standards because she could rely on his position.

Director Cristian Mungiu is able to weave the many different story lines nicely together, although some scenes don't seem to be related to the rest of the story. Probably he intentionally doesn't want to spell everything out. Life itself is sometimes ambiguous, so why shouldn't a movie be?