MARTI, DUPA CRACIUN
TUESDAY, AFTER CHRISTMAS
Romania
2009
99 minutes
Starring Mimi Branescu, Mirela Oprisor, Maria Popistasu.
Directed by Radu Muntean; written by Alexandru Baciu, Mr. Muntean, Razvan Radulescu; director of photography (colour, processing by Magyar Film Laboratorium, widescreen), Tudor Lucaciu; production designer, Sorin Dima; costume designer, Giorgiana Bostan; film editor, Alexandru Radu.
A Multi Media Est production with support from the Romanian National Centre for Cinema; co-financed by McCann Erickson, Optimedia, Mindshare Media, Next Advertising. (World sales, Films Boutique.)
Screened: distributor advance DVD screener, Lisbon, October 8th 2011.
Romania
2009
99 minutes
What
is genuinely astounding in the work that keeps coming out of the
so-called Romanian New Wave is the stunningly high average quality of
the films – that I have seen, there hasn't been a blunder out of
the lot so far, and Radu Muntean's third feature, a devastatingly
clear-eyed look at the dissolution of a middle-class marriage,
doesn't let down the side. Though shot in the usual long takes
without any musical illustration, Tuesday, After Christmas
introduces a welcome change of setting – we are now in the affluent
urban middle-class where everyone owns iPhones, lives in comfortable
flats and drives last-model station-wagons, and the social aspect of
many Romanian films is ejected to focus on the personal, emotional
side.
Mr. Muntean's film follows the run-up to Christmas Eve as the
milquetoast bank manager Paul (Mimi Branescu) struggles whether to
tell his wife he is in love with someone else and realises belatedly
he can't really have it both ways – a slender storyline that is
given substance and gravitas by the stunning central trio of
performances, with the director training his camera on the actors and
letting them run for as long and as fast as they can in a series of
complicated real-life situations. Mr. Branescu gives a nuanced
portrayal of his unassuming, slightly faded middle-class guy who
finds himself stuck between one woman he loves and lives with and
another he loves and lusts after, but it's Mirela Oprisor (Mr.
Branescu's wife in real life) as his career professional, loving wife
that steals the movie with two superb scenes. Tuesday,
After Christmas is more solid
than inspired, but its unflinching look at the complexity of modern
relationships chalks up another success for the home team.
Starring Mimi Branescu, Mirela Oprisor, Maria Popistasu.
Directed by Radu Muntean; written by Alexandru Baciu, Mr. Muntean, Razvan Radulescu; director of photography (colour, processing by Magyar Film Laboratorium, widescreen), Tudor Lucaciu; production designer, Sorin Dima; costume designer, Giorgiana Bostan; film editor, Alexandru Radu.
A Multi Media Est production with support from the Romanian National Centre for Cinema; co-financed by McCann Erickson, Optimedia, Mindshare Media, Next Advertising. (World sales, Films Boutique.)
Screened: distributor advance DVD screener, Lisbon, October 8th 2011.
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