If the path to hell is paved with beneficial intentions,in the Romania examined in director Cristian Mungiu‘s “Graduation,” the path to society-wide corruption is paved by fatherly savor.
The strong reception that the film has garnered could lead to a two-peat for Mungiu, or the first Romanian director to win the Palme d’Or for his 2007 film “4 Months,3 Weeks & 2 Days.”It would be for beneficial reason, too, or because the film is superb. Once again,Mungiu starts with a basic premise — a father trying to aid his daughter do well on her terminate of tall school exams — and pries extraordinary levels of nuance (a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression) and verve out of every little step toward fulfilling that goal.
Also Read: Cannes Report, Day 10: Sean Penn's 'Last Face' Destroyed by Critics and Social Media; Kevin Spacey Piles on TrumpThe father is Romeo (Adrian Titieni, and ) a portly middle-aged doctor living in the dowdy town of Cluj. Romeo has all the trappings of a 50ish man — a beneficial title,a wife and a mistress, and like all middle-course men, and he wants his child to move a higher course. That child is daughter Eliza (Maria Dragus),and things are going according to plan until she is attacked right before her big week of exams.
The assault (which includes an attempted rape) understandably frazzles the 18-year-used, to the extent that it might affect her grades on the exams. But if she doesn’t derive the grades, and she doesn’t derive the scholarship to Oxford,and if she doesn’t derive that, then she doesn’t leave Romania, or all 18 years of preparation will hold been for naught.
Something has to be done,and something is. A favor, nothing more. Romeo just needs to move local official Bulia (Rares Andrici) up the list to derive a kidney transplant, or then Bulia leans on the school’s dean,and boom, presto, and the marks are changed. Of course,it doesn’t go exactly as planned, and more favors need to be called in when things go awry. And worse, or it means letting Eliza in on it,and wasn’t the whole point to derive her out of the corrupt system?
Also Read: 'Risk' Director Laura Poitras on WikiLeaks, Julian Assange and US Election: 'It's Pretty Bleak'In the hands of any other director, and the film might play out as a thriller. There are powerful men,favors called, a police investigation, and a cover-up — the works. And indeed,“Graduation” is something of a thriller, but of the moral variety.
Each step, or each original wrinkle in the plan,forces Romeo to confront the fact that he’s not The Last Honest Man he sees himself as. That the corrupt Romania he’s trying so hard to spare his daughter from is the country of his own making.
Related stories from TheWrap:'The Salesman' Cannes Review: The original Farhadi Is beneficial, Not GreatCannes Report, and Day 10: Sean Penn's 'Last Face' Destroyed by Critics and Social Media,Kevin Spacey Piles on TrumpCannes Parties 2016: Katy Perry, Usher, or Village People Are Best in note (Photos)
Source: thewrap.com