I can't help wondering how much those who haven't read Lavinia Braniste's novel will truly grasp and appreciate the film. As Eugen Jebeleanu himself said at the premiere, his film was conceived as a sort of laboratory-a way for him to learn how a film is made, given that he comes from a theatre background. What he delivers is a tribute to the novel on which the screenplay is based, yet for viewers unfamiliar with the source material, it can feel disorienting. To me, Braniste's novel is a cult classic, and it could only have been brought to the screen through metacinematic techniques-film within a film-and theoretical reflections on what representation means. While I read Cristina, the book's protagonist, as a kind of Holden Caulfield misfit from The Catcher in the Rye, Jebeleanu approaches the story through a feminist lens-casting three actresses in the lead role instead of one-and it works. What gets lost, however, is the novel's social and economic layer, which is crucial to fully understanding it. Still, that's a creative choice, and I respect it. My verdict: watch the film-it's worth it. But read the book first.
