This is one of the earlier movies of director and script-writer Cristi Puiu who has already earned an important place in the new Romanian cinema. His last movie 'Moartea Domnului Lazarescu' has won him international recognition, but we can already identify here some of the themes in his work and also interesting elements of directing.
The story is quire simple, two young man and a woman make what seems to be a illegal transport (probably drugs) from the sea city of Constanta to Bucharest on behalf of some mafia types. They are vaguely aware that this is an illegal and possibly dangerous mission, but the money they get (2000 dollars) is a small fortune in Romania. The film simply tells the story of their trip, and only the final scenes put what happens in a broader context and tells something about the implication of what seems to be some banal traffic for what will be later their lives. This is simple, it is told in not too many details, but makes a strong impression.
Much of the film is a road story, reminding at some point 'U-Turn' or 'Duel', one of the very early movies of Spielberg. The director uses an interesting trick, he seems to let his young actors to improvise most of the time, and uses live sound caption, which makes the scenes in the car interesting although hard to understand (and I am a native Romanian speaker) and despite the fact that not too much happens. The rest of the movie presents the sordid life of simple people in Romania trying to cope with the transition of the system from communism to a free economy and political system, wit the tone of sincerity and critical yet sympathetic approach which will become a mark of the later films of Cristi Puiu. The film is certainly an interesting start for what will become I believe the road of a great director.
The story is quire simple, two young man and a woman make what seems to be a illegal transport (probably drugs) from the sea city of Constanta to Bucharest on behalf of some mafia types. They are vaguely aware that this is an illegal and possibly dangerous mission, but the money they get (2000 dollars) is a small fortune in Romania. The film simply tells the story of their trip, and only the final scenes put what happens in a broader context and tells something about the implication of what seems to be some banal traffic for what will be later their lives. This is simple, it is told in not too many details, but makes a strong impression.
Much of the film is a road story, reminding at some point 'U-Turn' or 'Duel', one of the very early movies of Spielberg. The director uses an interesting trick, he seems to let his young actors to improvise most of the time, and uses live sound caption, which makes the scenes in the car interesting although hard to understand (and I am a native Romanian speaker) and despite the fact that not too much happens. The rest of the movie presents the sordid life of simple people in Romania trying to cope with the transition of the system from communism to a free economy and political system, wit the tone of sincerity and critical yet sympathetic approach which will become a mark of the later films of Cristi Puiu. The film is certainly an interesting start for what will become I believe the road of a great director.