Câinele Japonez

It was the 26th of May 2015. I was visiting New York city. I was at the Museum of Modern Art. My eyes catch a title on the news leaflet: "MoMA Presents: Tudor Cristian Jurgiu's The Japanese Dog". I was extremely trilled. A Romanian movie on the big screens of the New York MoMa. Fantastic. I was so proud. I went to see it. The first image projected on the screen crashed my smile for a second. I was thinking..oh..how much we like to display our poverty...But the movie was not about that. It was about emotions, about humanity, their torments, and their struggles. It was about family, about devotion and love. I was transposed from the busy streets of New York to the rural areas of Romania. For an hour or so I was not in the NY anymore. I was in my grandma's yard (I am Romanian), hearing the sounds of nature in the background, witnessing the drama of the people left behind, of the ones getting old, of the ones far from their dear ones. At the end of the movie, all the people in the cinema hall clapped their hands. I have never witnessed people applauding at the cinema. It was not the premiere. I think they also shared my view: the movie is good. I was smiling when I left the room.

A few days in the life of an old guy living in rural Romania. Not a clever idea for a movie... to say it gently. No matter how good of an actor Victor Rebengiuc is, he simply can't make a good movie all by himself. This movie was doomed to fail from the start, the screenplay being the main cause. Yes I get that the action isn't so important, the characters and the father-son relationship being the focus, but you can still make things a little more interesting. Truth be told, it does have a few nice scenes... when Costache and Koji look at the pictures and when Costache gets drunk for example. Sadly though, these scenes don't make up for an overall boring movie. At least it has a somewhat conclusive ending, which is more than enough for a romanian movie.

I liked this movie from start to finish. It is a film about the rural world of post-communist Romania, when many chose the path of emigration. It is a film about emotions, about the problems of old age, of loneliness. , I can say that it aroused some nostalgia in me. The acting of the main character was excellent. Victor Rebengiuc is a great actor, he was well chosen for this role, especially since he had a somewhat similar role in Morometii

The Edinburgh International Film Festival brochure pointed out how similar this film is to the work of the great Ozu; in its quietness and framing. A slowly paced film, with a focus on character and the small interactions and motions that are part of everyday life. Although the poster shows both father and son, the film is focused on the father, Costache, played with tender stubbornness Rebengiuc.

Opening slowly as Costache, doesn't so much rebuild his life, he just gets on with things, after a flood has destroyed his home. It feels as though the film will increase in drama as the story of his estranged son emerges, but the return of his son and his family is handled with such care, that the film is able to become a gentler study of restrained paternal relationships. Any initial misconception that Costache is unable to connect emotionally to others is refuted as he embraces his new role as grandfather.

Jurgiu depicts Costache's village life without resorting to any clichés or easy comedic targets and finds the same sort of beauty in interiors and quiet streets as Ozu could. It may sound as if this film isn't really about anything in particular and to a certain extent that is true, but it more that makes up for that in its sincerity and heart.