At least since Cristian Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” stormed the Croisette back in 2007, taking the Palme d’Or (and with it the collective breaths of international critics)—and, in some corners of the critical universe, as far back as 2006’s “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu,” a near three-hour seriocomic indictment of a defunct health care system — the emergence of the Romanian new-wave, a movement intent on documenting the harshness of life under a Communist regime, has been a big deal for cinephiles.
Since ’07, however, things have cooled down a bit. Which is to say there were no boos on Oscar nom morn over the snubbing of any Romanian export. (Some of us shed a tear for the absence of “Police, Adjective”; most didn’t.)
But even during these noticeable lulls, you can bank on Cannes showcasing at least one or two of the lauded new-waver’s work, as they did last year by giving an “Un Certain Regard” slot to Corneliu Porumboiu’s “Police, Adjective,” and another to jolly omnibus romp “Tales from the Golden Age.” They’re at it again this year, spotlighting ‘Lazarescu’ auteur Cristi Puiu’s latest, “Aurora” (keeping company with the work of relatively new new-waver Radu Muntean’s “Tuesday, After Christmas”).
“Aurora” (which Puiu not only directs, but plays the lead in) sounds not unlike Bela Tarr’s noir-ish “Man from London,” telling the gloomy tale of a husband pushed so far by his ex-wife and family that he becomes a killer. This slow-burner isn’t likely to catch with cynical, divorced 30-year-olds across the world (most likely they’ll be watching Tiger Woods screw up), but that won’t be the last word on its quality with cinephiles. And it clearly hasn’t been.
Eric Kohn from Indiewire thumbs up the film, saying “The challenging pace may define the experience, but suspense and intrigue lurk within Puiu’s temporally ambitious technique. Rather than establish an elaborate backstory and build toward the climax, he bases his entire production around meandering exposition. Since nothing is definite, each hour remains engagingly unpredictable,” though he basically reiterates our last thought above in saying “Puiu invites repeat viewings—although his unhurried style is certain to turn some viewers off for the same reason it will turn others on.”
Eye Weekly’s Jason Anderson goes out on a limb and says “Best in show thus far? Would it surprise you if I mentioned a Romanian movie?” He adds “By situating material that would typically generate a thriller in the most prosaic circumstances imaginable, Puiu puts a rigorously existentialist and minimalist spin on the genre.”
Geoff Andrew from Time Out gives it a four out of five, writing ” ‘Aurora’ will not be to everyone’s taste, but it is undoubtedly the work of an audacious, intelligent writer-director (and, at least for now, actor) who’s both ready and very able to deal with areas of human experience of which many other filmmakers seem barely to be aware. It was the inescapable fact of mortality in ‘Mr Lazarescu’; here it is the pain and confusion of just being alive. And Puiu’s special approach to the realist aesthetic ensures that ‘Aurora’ rings unusually true. Superb stuff.”
Critic James Rocchi, spoiling everyone’s fun, tweets “AURORA: 180 mins of Romanian slow-mo noir; think of it as ‘Criminal, Noun,'” proving that this film isn’t for everyone despite the glowing reviews.
Guy Lodge, surprisingly not terribly impressed, from In Contention: “Too often the film settles for simpler miserablism, stranding us in empty rooms with a lone, ungiving protagonist.”
As we thought, the film has been getting fantastic reviews, but for those who find slow pace and long takes akin to water torture, the film isn’t likely to impress you. It seems to follow the path of “Police, Adjective,” using the Romanian’s style of shooting but employing deadpan humor rather than being sedated like its brethren. The film, as of yet, has no distributor. Seeing as most of the heavy hitters in the Romanian collective have gotten play at art houses, with any luck this’ll get picked up too.
