Kristi Puyu’s new masterpiece of auteur cinema nominated for an Oscar Automatic translate

BUCHAREST. The Oscar-long list included the Romanian film "Cieranevada."

At the last Cannes Film Festival, Cristi Puiu Sieranevada received nothing. However, it was among the critics and spectators who were left without awards. Along with “Tony Erdmann” by Maren Ada, “Paterson” by Jim Jarmusch, the thriller “She” by Paul Verhoeven. Oscar’s long list in the category "Best Foreign Film" is another worthy company and still unclear prospects.

The birth of Sieranevada was preceded by a sad event - the death of the director’s father. The atmosphere of the memorial dinner, filled with empty, everyday chatter, without warm memories of the deceased, the last “forgive”, addressed to him, struck him. As a result, “Sieranevada” appeared. Strange, hypnotically involving in an infinite verbal "brew." Claustrophobic space multiplied by three hours of screen time. A motley crowd of relatives in an apartment clogged with old rubbish. It is crowded with people gathered in the fortieth, there is no place for warm memories of the deceased. A memorial meal becomes an occasion to sort things out, an opportunity to talk, argue, work out the accumulated fears and irritation. And only then go further.

“Cieranevada” seems to loop the story told in Puyu’s early masterpiece - “Death of Mr. Lazarescu” (Moartea domnului Lăzărescu), which won dozens of awards at various festivals. In it, a dying old man is unsuccessfully trying to be attached to some of the medical institutions, depriving the procrastination of a chance for life. The main platform for the new film was an empty apartment after the recent death of its owner, Mr. Kotescu. He, like Lazarescu, lived alone with her cats in it. In the frame there is a considerable amount of his personal belongings, books, paintings. On the day the apartment was rented for the duration of the shooting, the relatives celebrated 40 days from the death of Mr. Kotescu.

While working on the film, another fortieth happened, one of the actors starring in it - Sorin Medeleni, died. Mystical coincidences that fit into the aching atmosphere of the film Puyu.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru