Aaron's Thoughts
Even after hearing others say it coming out of Cannes, I didn’t expect this to be so utterly miserable to watch. I mean how could I? Probably my favorite actress (Reinsve) alongside Sebastian Stan in a Christian Mungiu film? I mean come on! I was pumped the moment I saw the Film Updates tweet a few years ago.
But even my enthusiasm for all involved couldn’t overcome how hard it is sitting in this world for two and a half hours. Mingiu gives you no easy answers and puts these difficult themes right in your face the whole time. So much so that I came out of the theater contemplating if the film was even successful in what it’s trying to get at. Because the longer it goes on the more it wears you down.
The longer you sit with it though, the more you realize that this is all a feature and not a bug. If anything, it’s a sign that it’s incredibly effective at what it’s setting out to achieve.
Will some push back at the film’s mission? They sure will. Is there going to be an utterly miserable take cycle? You betcha! Are most people going to read the film incorrectly? Probably.
But if you see the film for yourself, you’ll realize that the miserable discourse incoming does nothing but exemplify the themes.
As Mungiu said in the Q&A after the film, we live in a world where whoever is the majority goes over the top to act like the majority and impose their ways on the minority (whoever that may be). When you do that, you get stuck in a cycle where people only villainize and hate the people not in their circle more and more. You can’t change things if you prevent people from saying what they think & having a conversation. We need each other and we can learn from one another, but it doesn’t happen unless there is good faith conversation & listening.
I’m not quite sure the world is ready for a film as nuanced as this, but if we don’t start having these conversations honestly the outlook is grim. The snow is dislodging and heading down the mountain. It’s just a matter of if we are going to get out of the way together or be buried by it.
