Regresie

Impressive short film about a soldier being evaluated for post-traumatic disorder by a national committee and American agents. The film takes us through the symptoms that the soldier presents and the problems that his family faces from these. He suffers from a condition that brings him back to being a child! The committee is skeptical about the disorder and decides to visit him at his house while he is celebrating his birthday. The national committee wants to stop supporting the soldier while the American agents are looking to get more details about his experience while at the battlefield. A great short that engages the audience with a good pace and great cast. I liked the plot and the way it was presented. It could be a great prelude for a longer film. The potential is definitely there. I really enjoyed watching it!

I was very impressed by the raw cinematography of this movie, which characterizes modern Romanian cinema. However as opposed to other Romanian movies, this one offers various twists of the plot which leave the viewer speechless and interested.

The stark contrast between the setting of Romania and the backdrop of Afghani Bollywood gives this movie a very worldly feel, as if all things are connected in life. The mental regression of Ciprian as he returns home, could be interpreted as a general cultural regression of the Romanian people. He drifts between worlds, one moment he is in his Romanian apartment with his wife, playing with a rubber ducky in the tub and the next he is living it up in his Bollywood style fantasy, where he dances along beautiful belly dancers. the plot takes a turn, when 2 CIA officers decide to visit him at home to see weather he is making all this up or not.

All in all I found this to be another great Romanian short film, which takes a satirical view at Romanian affairs in the Middle East.

Regresie proves to show that short films still have their place and can still stand on their own as artistic social commentary.

There is an array of emotion that flow through the film where flamboyancy is met with a sad reality. These seemingly polar opposites seem to balance out the film well and the film is quite an enjoyable one.

There is much more to this film as I mentioned that go into the deeper meaning of societal and familial affairs. Overall, this was a very interesting film that we rarely see nowadays in the realm of cinema. Truly a film worth watching.

The plot of "Regresie" (AKA Regression) revolves around Ciprian's claim to receive a government life pension and benefits due to an apparent disability caused by a blow to his head whilst serving in the military in Afghanistan.

The film opens with Ciprian's assessment day where perplexed government doctors examine his rare syndrome. The CIA join in - they are sure that there is more to Ciprian's illness than meets the eye and send two of their best and brightest to attend the evaluation.

The evaluation committee, expecting a routine investigation of benefit fraud, are perplexed when they are confronted by a man who one minute holds a rubber duck while cuddling up to his wife and then the next minute engages in seemingly exotic dance moves.

It seems that Ciprian has regressed to the age of a 5 year old boy and also suffers from intense fantasies of being a star surrounded by gyrating female dancers with elaborate Bollywood choreography.

The investigating team are befuddled. The lead interrogator suspects fraud and hatches a simple plan: he will simply test Ciprian with a surprise visit to his home. Meanwhile, the CIA agents have quickly concluded - based on ambiguous events during Ciprian's service in Afghanistan, where he supposedly caught somebody from the Al-Qaeda leadership - that Ciprian's dances must be some sort of Al–Qaeda code. Suspecting now that Ciprian must be an Al-Qaeda recruiter, the undercover CIA agents have one solution only - to render (AKA government sanctioned kidnap) Ciprian at the nearest possible opportunity.

Both teams, acting independently of each other, simultaneously arrive at Ciprian's flat with unfortunate timing. It is Ciprian's birthday – and as we all know, kids on their birthday are not to be messed with – they get what they want. Adults, even ex-secret service interrogators or CIA rendition experts must await their turn....

The director & writing team have pulled off a superb farce – some hysterical situations combined with suspenseful moments ensue - using buffoonery with insightful characterisation and a situation so ludicrously improbable, that surely it has to be true?

This is a farce steeped deep in its Romanian roots of dark, satirical absurd comedy. The performances are delightfully contained and the story remains tight until its final outcome. With a story so rich and fast moving, my general feeling is that the filmmakers are simply bursting at the seams – ready and ripe – for a feature. I can't wait. I get the feeling that anyone who gets to see this short will be proud to have known it before the feature that surely is soon to come from this team.

I know that I will be.

Regresie is a film that captivates the attention of its viewer and does not let go. This film's deep irony and unpredictable twists leave one both laughing and fascinated with the main character's story. One wonders what is real and what is imagined within the rich visual texture and well-time scene shifts.

This is a film which has clearly been written and directed well, with attention paid to both the layered and nuanced comedic plot as well as to the deep visuals and captivating sounds which even include a stay-in-your-head Bollywood dance scene.

By the time Regresie ends, this reviewer found himself identifying with the main character, who at first appears to be mentally damaged by a war-induced trauma, an elite fighter who has suffered a terrible fate, being reduced to a simple childlike state. However we realize that nothing is as it seems and that beneath each character's surface is someone caught up in one of the subplots and sinister machinations.

Regresie is a masterful melding of comedic absurdity as well as a melancholy look into the life of a man whose life has reached its zenith and who now has little left to lose. The protagonist is sympathetic for anyone who has been forced by circumstances to inhabit a mundane world populated with uninteresting people.

This is enough substance in this short film that can be dissected by an intelligent viewer and watched more than once, something which cannot be said about standard movie house fare. There is a distinctly European undertone to Regresie which will appeal to an international audience and critics alike.