Romanian film bags Golden Bear award
Romania claimed another major scalp on the European film festival circuit this weekend when Child’s Pose won the Golden Bear in Berlin, underlining the country’s emergence as a powerhouse of hard-hitting cinema in the post-Communist era.
The film, directed by Calin Peter Netzer, tells the story of Cornelia, an obsessive mother who uses every trick in the book to prevent her son from going to jail after he kills a boy in a car accident.
It is the latest in a long list of critical hits that have enjoyed startling success at festivals like Berlin and Cannes in recent years, helping to bring Romania’s cinema to a wider audience.
Some of Romania’s top directors, who have enjoyed the artistic freedom that flourished after the death of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, dismiss talk of a cinematic “new wave”, saying it lumps together very different styles and stories.
But ever since Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu hit Cannes in 2005, and two years later his compatriot Cristian Mungiu won the coveted Palme d’Or there for the harrowing abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Romanian cinema has been firmly on the map. “It is an acknowledgement, I think, that Romanian cinema is still producing good quality cinema and has been for a few years and it is a good endowment that it is still like this,” Netzer told Reuters after receiving the Golden Bear for best film.
While each film differs, there is a common thread of unflinching storytelling and compelling human drama often laid out against the backdrop of a cold and uncaring society.
Netzer said Child’s Pose was not a critique of Romania today, despite its unflattering portrayal of flashy materialism and casual corruption among the nouveau riche.
“I think basically this is about a relationship, a kind of pathological relationship between mother and son,” he told reporters in Berlin after the closing ceremony late on Saturday.
“The rest — the corruption, the framework, the context, all of that is on a separate level and is really only a backdrop.”
— Reuters
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