Occident

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.

A chain of stories. Impecable portrait of characters. Bitter humor. Ways of survive. And the choices defining different situations. A honest, realistic portrait of Romanian realities. Seductive for inspired performances, for the exploration of cliches and for the science to propose only events , determining the viewer to build his conclusion. Young people. Solutions . Their parents. And small circles of survive , fake succes or appearences as refuges.

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.

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.

A beautiful story about time, coincidences and happenstance. Three stories intertwine and characters influence one another's life without ever knowing it. Excellent and convincing performances from both veteran actors and newcomers. Even though it made me laugh a lot, after I finished watching it didn't taste like a comedy, but more like a sad love story. And even though love doesn't conquer all (love between man and woman, love between friends, love for one's country), the story doesn't feel hopeless and bleak, not even once. A must-see for anyone interested in Eastern European productions.

PS: The version I saw had English subtitles, but they were sometimes incomplete and a couple of times rather badly translated. I felt they didn't do their best to do justice to the lines.