Occident

like many films of new Romanian wave, it is a picture. picture of a country.reflections of a people existence. a film about price of basic things and nuances of feelings. about meetings, expectations, hope and values. so, a kind of window. nothing more. it is difficult to write a review about this part of a not small chain. because it is not beautiful or impressive or sad. it is not a subject of meditation or basket with nice images. it is only little piece from a broken reality. gray, cruel, without profound sense, passive, prey of a form of Bovarism. nothing more. a game with nuances in which words are bones of silence. a testimony. like many others Romanian films. and search of beginning. or only drawing of them.

Lucian is a 29 year old botanist whose financial security is threatened after his job gets cut. After finding himself evicted from his old apartment, his practical girlfriend is unwilling to accept his proposition to move in with his elderly aunt and himself and starts seeking solace in the company of an older foreigner about to return to France. Mihaela is a 24 year old romantic idealist and aspiring poetess who after being stood up at the altar has to reluctantly accept her willful mother's attempts at finding her a well-off foreigner suitor. "The colonel", a retiring police officer and Mihaela's father is approached by a Romanian expat to assist with breaking the news of the death of one of his friends, all the while trying to avert his daughter's ill-suited wooer.

The three stories in the film, although clearly delineated, are closely intertwined and interdependent, and its strings often blend seamlessly and fluently into one another. Showing signs of Kieslowski (imagery), Tarr (multi-perspective narrative structure) and Wong (theme of failed connections and longing), "Occident" holds a strong grip and deliberate pace on its three plots, gradually revealing more layers of each of its three protagonists, and often amending previously shown events through its crafty fragmented narrative.

Cristian Mungiu's first feature directorial effort paints a bittersweet picture on the transitional period of Romania a decade after the fall of the communist regime, most acutely marked by the large-scale brain-drain occurring after the late 90s recession. Frequently underscored by a popular local hit from the 70s, "Noi in anul 2000" ("We, in the year 2000"), whose youthful, innocently hopeful lyrics create a feeling of melancholy and forlornness when contrasted with the bleakness and ennui of contemporary adulthood in Romania, the film approaches themes of chance, displacement and longing. Allured by the mirage of an idealized West full of opportunity for a better life, the characters in the film are in pursuit of an ever elusive happiness, narrowly missing their chance and failing to reach a meaningful connection.

The movie achieved great success in Cannes festival. The greatest thing about it is the natural way of showing different stories around the same characters. Everyone could identify with one character in the movie. It is sad, showing that Romania is a country everyone wants to leave, seeking for a better life in Occident. Yet, the main character does not leave, not because he does not want to, but because he has nothing to do abroad. The movie shows different experiences from the point of view of each character. The end is unexpected, the further life of characters is unknown, you may imagine they succeeded abroad or not. Occident is not a social movie but a comedy, even if a black one, about people's goals, hopes, dreams. It does not want to emphasize the poverty in Romania, because it shows only the life of a certain group of people, which do not represent the entire Romanian nation. The team that made this movie is great, the director, the actors, the script, everything is great about this movie. This movie will change you, will make you wonder about things you never thought before.

I never expected a Romanian film to be so "occidental"!

Yes, I'm a young movie fan, but Romanian films (or at least those that I've seen) just have that characteristic awkwardness which make them look like second-class movies.

Well, Occident is different. It's radically different. It's different even from those American movies which had set the standards, but up to par with any of them.

Occident is strongly non-linear, and you wonder whether the familiar scene you're seeing is a similar one or a remembrance. Occident is fascinating, intriguing, even mind-boggling, and it doesn't make use of any Romania-specific jokes. So, if you're not Romanian, it's no problem. Occident is universal. And, quite a rare thing, Occident is worth seeing again. And again. And again.

This is worth seeing for being from Romania alone, but also it´s a good movie. It takes place in present day Romania and over a few days you follow Nae and Sorina around in everyday events. In a "Short cuts" kind of way you first meet a this couple, and people they encounter and interact with are the people we follow around in the next part. In all you get to see the same events from three different angles which makes an interesting whole. Like in everyday day life, there are both sad and happy occurrences, that shows us that life is not black nor white. It´s partly based on the true stories that the director collected while working as a journalist, and partly based on his own and his friends experiences, which makes this movie very believable.