Occident

I really liked this movie, I laughed most part of it, although it isn't a real comedy, but rather a drama. Yet, Ioan Gyuri Pascu makes a really funny role as the typical friend, neighbour and jack of all trades. All in all, the movie's charm is based on the way we get various pieces of information during each of its episodes, and we make up a story of our own, only to discover in the next episode of the film that it wasn't entirely true; most like in "Memento", or "Pulp Fiction", but in a stronger way, as we have here more different stories to follow, mix and clue together (similar to "E pericoloso sporgersi). Each episode shows us the same line of action, but with other details each time. The various pieces of information link one with the other only to show us that we are much too used to drawing conclusions of our own, without waiting to hear the narrator's. If you have the opportunity, go watch the movie. Although it is funnier for romanian people, the more likely to get the jokes and irony regarding everyday's life, it is entertaining as well for foreigners, due to the simple and amusing stories. "Occident" is riding the same wave as "Filantropica"; we hope to see some more good romanian cinema in the future as witty, ironic, sparkling and amusing as those ones.

like many films of new Romanian wave, it is a picture. picture of a country.reflections of a people existence. a film about price of basic things and nuances of feelings. about meetings, expectations, hope and values. so, a kind of window. nothing more. it is difficult to write a review about this part of a not small chain. because it is not beautiful or impressive or sad. it is not a subject of meditation or basket with nice images. it is only little piece from a broken reality. gray, cruel, without profound sense, passive, prey of a form of Bovarism. nothing more. a game with nuances in which words are bones of silence. a testimony. like many others Romanian films. and search of beginning. or only drawing of them.

My friends in Bucharest recommended this film: 'you must see it, it's better than 4-3-2'. 4-3-2 is the short for '4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days', the film that made director Cristian Mungiu known in the West and brought him a 'Palme d'Or' in Cannes exactly one year ago. I tend to agree, but I would add 'yes, better, but mostly for Romanian viewers'.

'Occident' deals with what has been in Communist Romania a national obsession and what became today a national and social phenomenon - the aspiration of the young generation to run away from a country where they cannot build a decent life and the mirage of the Occident. The story happens in the year 2000 and is told three times, from three different angles belonging each to a pair of characters, each time changing the perspective and revealing new angles of the story, changing its sense and even its ending. It is a smart story, in a style much more nervous than '4-3-2' which had a linear story telling, with long scenes giving the actors better opportunities for deeper performances.

And yet 'Occident' tells a lot of harsh truths about the Romanian society, about its corruption, emptiness, lack of education. All these will be much better understood by Romanian viewers however. It is also a different time, the characters in 'Occident' may be desperate to run away, but the difference is that they can do it, while '4-3-2' characters have no place to run. This may be one of the reasons that '4-3-2' impressed more viewers out of Romania. What happened in the last years of the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu was criminal and may be shocking for less initiated viewers, but is by no means news for most of the Romanians, excepting the very young ones. Ceausescu still sells better even after his death.

I never expected a Romanian film to be so "occidental"!

Yes, I'm a young movie fan, but Romanian films (or at least those that I've seen) just have that characteristic awkwardness which make them look like second-class movies.

Well, Occident is different. It's radically different. It's different even from those American movies which had set the standards, but up to par with any of them.

Occident is strongly non-linear, and you wonder whether the familiar scene you're seeing is a similar one or a remembrance. Occident is fascinating, intriguing, even mind-boggling, and it doesn't make use of any Romania-specific jokes. So, if you're not Romanian, it's no problem. Occident is universal. And, quite a rare thing, Occident is worth seeing again. And again. And again.

A beautiful story about time, coincidences and happenstance. Three stories intertwine and characters influence one another's life without ever knowing it. Excellent and convincing performances from both veteran actors and newcomers. Even though it made me laugh a lot, after I finished watching it didn't taste like a comedy, but more like a sad love story. And even though love doesn't conquer all (love between man and woman, love between friends, love for one's country), the story doesn't feel hopeless and bleak, not even once. A must-see for anyone interested in Eastern European productions.

PS: The version I saw had English subtitles, but they were sometimes incomplete and a couple of times rather badly translated. I felt they didn't do their best to do justice to the lines.