Eu când vreau sa fluier, fluier

When I want to whistle, I whistle. That means I would do Anything to get where I want.I am begging everybody, I am humiliating myself I let people spit in my face, but I would do anything, and if by begging,by trying to get the minimum of understanding, I can't do it, then I can give up all the chances of happiness I still have left. Living in the post communist Romania can be a bigger drama for an individual, but that drama is hidden and digs dipper and dipper because it's not shared by anyone. Your mother works in Italy because of financial reasons. She also discovers another world, things that she never had before, and by sending some money home she thinks she's making it up. After her son gets to be institutionalised...she doesn't want to feel the guilt so she pretends to forget. Who's drama is this one?Silviu's?his mother's? his brother's? Everyones!!! But only Silviu feels the burden, only he wants to change something. It is not the result, but his spirit that matter. His spirit is alive, and everybody else is peacefully pleased with the same old. Institutionalized sanity. His sanity manifests itself as insanity in an insane society... There's a strong silence, sometimes we can even listen to it and understand it.

A visual artist knows that adding a little dot of light in the iris could change the whole portrait or even ruin the initial intention. Not adding the right dot, could have the same effect. Finding THAT balance, something needed in everything we do! That balance is written all over this movie! One reviewer from Romania is fed up with "movies about low-end society family problems". I don't know if Romanians make only such movies but this one is certainly not about Romania. And here the balance I was talking about becomes clear: a simple, personal tragedy may look unimportant to others but to the one who is tormented by it, it becomes life itself. The whole movie is feeding on this sentence, if I may say so. It dictates the filming and editing style (kudos for editing!), the choice of characters, dialog (probably improvised) and everything else. The movie is quiet (almost no soundtrack, very long minutes of no dialog, long takes) and yet the tension and ugliness of the personal horror could deafen someone. The hand held camera is also barely noticeable (someone was complaining about it), far from a Dogma head ache. This slight shake is a reminder the story is not a studio pose but a live action. The theme could be illustrated in many other ways, and it's been done before, probably because the theme is so human and unfortunately forever recurrent. But what impressed me the most is the movie as a whole. The film maker, if I can make him "responsible" for the result, must be a very elegant man, in terms of manners. A man that doesn't shout out his empathy but presents it on a silver tray. Bravo!

Eu Cand Vreau sa Fluier, Fluier – If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle – CATCH IT (B+) A Romanian movie about a young teenager, who has spent four years in a youth penitentiary, is granted release. Before he can leave, his mother returns to Romania to bring his little brother to Italy with her, despite Silviu's objections. He meets a young woman, Ana, who is working on a research project in the prison, and becomes interested in her. In his desperation Silviu resorts to violence, and Ana becomes his hostage. The premises and the execution of the movie are really intriguing. This is my first Romanian movie and somehow I found the Romanian music very close to the Afghani music. But anyhow the best part of the movie is its young cast. George Piştereanu as rebellious teenager is simply amazing. It's so great to see how he communicates with his brother, mother, inmates and Anna. Through his performance he showed four different sides to his personality. Even though I found his actions crazy as he is so close to getting release for ever but hey it's the script. Once the movie is over all you can think if he just could have controlled himself for another few days. On the whole, it's a really nice movie and shows something really refreshing in juvenile jails otherwise I was fed up of watching rapes in almost every jail movie.

This film is full of suspense, tragedy, and irony. With the focus on excellent acting and directing, rather than special effects and music, this movie incites the viewer to ponder its messages long after the last credits. Raising issues related to the importance of parenting, the frustration of hoping when the system is against you, and the role administrators play in keeping the accused, even when rehabilitation is imminent, in prison.

In this film director Florin Serban's mastery lies in his ability to create an intense atmosphere parallel to that which Sergio Leone created in the "Spaghetti Westerns" of the mid-twentieth century. The tension felt when just a few forceful words are combined with meaningful body language is remarkable. Actor George Pistereanu is a talent to keep watching; his powerful interpretation of the role of Silviu is as charming and convincing as it is haunting.

"Eu cand vreau sa fluier, fluier" (If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle) is a complex drama about an inmate(Silviu) at a prison in Romania who is to be released in 15 days, but finds out that his mother just came back from Italy and she wants to take his younger brother there with her. Also she wants to leave in 7 days, a thing which Silviu cannot accept.

The movie is not for everybody and cannot be compared with other movies related to prisons, prisoners or stuff like that. It does not have clever escape plans, surprising events or crazy shootings. What made this movie so successful at Berlin Festival (where it won two awards, including the Silver Bear) was the unique way of directing from Florin Serban, but also the intense drama of the situation which drives Silviu to extreme limits, making him do the most unthinkable things. Also in Silviu's life appears Ana, a young intern who has to make interviews with inmates.

Again, this movie is not for the masses. An average movie viewer today will probably become bored, will think this movie has no point and so on. Due to today's trend in the movie industry, films like these are ignored and labeled as bad movies. Luckily, there are still critics like those from the Berlin Film Festival which can rate a movie to its true value.