Cu Lapte, Fara Zahar

There's much to love about 'Cu lapte, fără zahăr' ('Milk, no sugar'). The film, much like Atom Egoyan's work, treads carefully between the thriller and drama genre, generating a great tense narrative, one which is flavoured with emotion and great characterisation. The film also utilises time and space beautifully, making full use of some key cinematic tools to tell its story. The performance by the lead, Victor Rebengiuc, is also very layered, and realistic. Great short film, highly recommended.

Truth be told, when I saw this title coming from an eastern European country I would have predicted something related to communism, with long boring shots, and dialogue in the form of excessive small-talk. Well, "Milk, no sugar" proved me wrong! The narrative is a superb short story in the style of Richard Ford, where the grim atmosphere is the main focus, and whatever happens, there will be another unexpected turn of events right around the corner. There is a whole metaphysical level this movie explores, and it may take a while to understand all the subtle messages, but when you do, you will understand the whole magic of this impeccable piece. A great short, with amazing actors, and outstanding score!