La Gomera - L'isola dei fischi

... but with lashings of skulduggery, this enjoyable and original noirish escapade mixes Spanish villains with corrupt Romanian detectives via a cryptic whistle to cover their tracks.

Cristi is a middle aged undercover police officer with mommy issues who is trying to find the location of some stolen money. So he goes to a remote island to learn a whistling language that will allow him to communicate with the criminals from a distance. There he rekindles a relationship with his old flame and his priorities change. As both the criminals and his colleagues are onto Cristi what choices will he make to come out clean of his predicament? A clever game of cops and robbers ensues.

Summing up this multi layered, not always coherent plot, is not an easy task. THE WHISTLERS takes a long time to get going but it's many elements come together building up to something special. Heavy on movie references it is heavily inspired by Tarantino movies, although the style of the cinematography is rather dull.

The script on paper must look great, but this is the case where a writer should let go of his work and let someone else direct. Cornelliu Porumboiu helmed 13 films but seems to be still searching for his directing style. While all the cast do their job well, the motives of their characters for the majority of the film are obscure to say the least.

But if this is the originality you are looking for THE WHISTLERS is for you. With good timing and a genuine sense of wit it is a rewarding experience for those who will stick with it until the end.

The maturity of a film school is measured not only by masterpieces or films awarded with gold at major festivals, but also by 'average' movies, belonging to popular genres or film niches. If this criterion is correct, then we can consider Corneliu Porumboiu's 'La Gomera' (English title is 'The Whistlers') as one of these maturity films. Porumboiu is one of the best-known directors of the 'new wave' of Romanian cinema, which has captured the attention of audiences and festival juries a decade and a half ago, initially based on a minimalist approach to the present time and the near past. His films made over the last 14 years are characterized by a variety of styles, genres and themes. Very difficult to predict what the next Corneliu Porumboiu film will look like. With 'La Gomera' the Romanian director walks resolutely in the 'film noir' area writing and making a mafia-themed thriller that manages to capture and keep the viewers' attention by giving them a story that is at the same time original and respectful of all the fundamental rules of the genre.

The story of the film describes a very plausible encounter between the world of gangsters in Western Europe and the relatively new categories of criminals and corrupt lawmakers acquired from the Eastern Europe after the Iron Curtain fell. The hero of the film is Cristi (played by Vlad Ivanov), a corrupt Romanian policeman who gets into deep trouble in a drug trafficking and money laundering business with international implications. The maneuvers of the underground world of criminals bring him to a Canary island where he will be forced to learn the whistling language of the locals to communicate in a coded manner, protected by the electronic interceptions of his pursuers. The original combination of action plans gives Porumboiu the opportunity to suggest to the viewers thoughts about our world super-supervised electronically and deprived of privacy, about the relationship between tradition and modernity, between modern and archaic communication languages.

All these are added atop a classic 'film noir' structure in which the bad guys face the very bad guys, and where the inevitable love story adds to the suspense. There is a lot of blood flowing and plenty of bullets are shot to satisfy genre addicts, but what remains in memory is the consistent, elegant style, full of shadows and sombre colors, backed by an exceptional soundtrack, as well as the professional acting of the entire team of actors. Vlad Ivanov, one of the best theater and film actors of the moment in Romania, consolidates with each new role in films made abroad his stature of international star. He is surounded three actresses who have the opportunity to perform three significant and very well-sketched feminine roles: Catrinel Marlon as the girlfriend, Rodica Lazar as the boss, and Julieta Szönyi as the mother. The story flows well, the motivations of the characters become gradually clear and there are also humorous notes, including quotes from masters and colleagues, directors of suspense movies. 'La Gomera' is a film that can satisfy different categories of viewers. Unfortunately the distribution is kind of discrete, in the cinema hall where I saw the film yesterday we were just four spectators (two couples). I can only hope that the popularity of this movie will increase over time, as I believe it deserves.

The promotion of this movie as a comedy really does it a disservice. In reality, it's very twisty, complex neo-noir, which is fine. I was attracted to the film partly because I had heard it was funny, but it isn't (although there is a little bit of wry/cynical humor). Misrepresenting a movie's genre sets it up to fail with viewers, who go in expecting something different.

If you do like neo-noir crime dramas with a lot of references to past classic films (both Romanian and American), this is definitely one to check out. It has a great soundtrack as well.

It's actually a co-production, but mostly Romanian. I could say is the first Romanian film made intelligently, for international distribution. Of course, it's not a masterpiece, by far, but, compared to the previous level of Romanian films, it's a great qualitative leap. Vlad Ivanov, the lead, is almost an expressionless actor. I can't say the same about Catrinel Marlon, she is very expressive, dressed and undressed. Talented and very beautiful, a face reminiscent of Penelope Cruz and Nastassja Kinski, Catrinel Marlon I hope she'll become a great actress. Very convincing Rodica Lazar in the role of the very annoying prosecutor. The rest of the cast is good, the movie is worth to be seen. Porumboiu surpasses himself from one film to another. I wish him to keep it that way, higher and higher.