Telluride at Dartmouth Film: "Graduation"
A father's ambitions for his daughter are called into question in this gripping, intricately woven morality play set in modern Romania.
Romeo (Adrian Titieni), a decent, conscientious doctor, has dedicated himself to helping his daughter Eliza graduate high school with top marks, as her degree will enable her to study overseas, offering her opportunities denied to him and his wife. A single arbitrary moment of violence threatens these efforts, and each of Romeo’s potential solutions violates the principles he has strived to teach his daughter. Using fastidious long takes, Palme d’Or-winning writer-director Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) plunges us into this ambiguous moral labyrinth with Romeo, our souls at risk with his. Mungiu has crafted another Romanian New Wave masterwork, a compelling, disciplined and moving investigation of the nation’s conflicted, corrupted soul in the post-Ceaușescu years. (Romania, subtitled, 2016, 128m) Courtesy of IFC
