IFC Detain Porumboiu’s ‘Police, Adjective’

For anyone looking to possibly learn Romanian as a second language, I suggest you watch films with the IFC Films label on it. The company which loaded up on Cannes fair have the same taste buds as IONCINEMA.com does when it comes to imports from Romanian. Following their last year pick up of Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and this year’s pick up of his Tales From The Golden Age hybrid, Arianna Bocco has put her cuffs on Corneliu Porumboiu’s Police, Adjective – surely the more difficult film to sell (compared to 12:08 East of Bucharest) to a wider art-house following. 

This features Dragos Bucur as Cristi, a policeman who refuses to arrest a young man who offers hashish to two of his school mates. “Offering” is punished by the law. Cristi believes that the law will change, he does not want the life of a young man he considers irresponsible to be a burden on his conscience. For his superior the word conscience has a different meaning. 

In my quick assessment (Cannes Day 4) of the Jury Prize winning picture at Cannes, I called it minimalist in the fashion Aki Kaurismaki and Roy Andersson. One needs to have the patience of a security guard doing a double shift when waiting for the punch-line moments – its that slow. If you are in the TIFF or NYFF area and happen to have loved his last picture like I did, I suggest grabbing yourself a ticket and not waiting until the 2010 date.

On another note, the film is the 2009 Romanian Oscar entry.