Confirming that the new Romanian cinema is no flash in the pan, Corneliu Porumboiu has followed up his Caméra d'Or-winning 12:08 East of Bucharest with the magnificently conceived and executed Police, Adjective, cementing his reputation as one of Europe's most exciting new talents. Both Porumboiu and fellow Romanian director Cristian Mungiu (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days) excel at creating ordinary yet highly charged situations that they then develop into transcendent cinematic moments. Though their means are modest, their aspirations are limitless.
The story of Police, Adjective can be told on the back of a napkin. A young undercover cop living in a bleak post-communist small town is assigned to conduct surveillance on a teenager who offered a joint to his friends before school. The cop's boss wants the kid's supplier found and busted – or failing this, the youngster arrested. Plots don't get much simpler than this, but in Porumboiu's hands the material is transformed into a devastating metaphysical portrait of contemporary Romanian society.
The cop, Cristi (Dragos Bucur), is just an ordinary guy, happily married yet bored and listless in his unexciting provincial job. He decides to rebel in his own small way, reasoning to himself that busting the teen is a futile act. Not only will it ruin the kid's life, as he will face a mandatory jail sentence, but since neighbouring countries like the Czech Republic have sensibly loosened their drug laws, Cristi assumes Romania will soon do the same. Little does he know the consequences of his moment of independence.
In insightful set pieces that are both beautifully written and acted, Porumboiu scrutinizes the values he perceives around him. The film begins to turn on the word “conscience” as Cristi is brought face to face with the unfeeling force and power of authority, which comes in the form of his police captain, played by the incomparable Vlad Ivanov (the abortionist in 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days). Ultimately both a dissection of language and a penetrating social critique, Police, Adjective is a masterpiece of intelligent, thoughtful cinema that strikes with equal force at the heart and the mind.
Piers Handling
Corneliu Porumboiu was born in Vaslui, Romania, and studied directing at the University of Dra-ma and Film “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest. He has directed such short films as
Graffiti (00),
Gone with the Wine (02),
Liviu's Dream (03) and
A Trip to the City (04). His feature debut,
12:08 East of Bucharest (06) won the Caméra d'Or for best first feature at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. His most recent film is
Police, Adjective (09).