ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

jelly-92265 Super boring. Maybe it's because I'm not Romanian. Nothing new or original and I actually fell asleep. Rewound the bits I missed. Shouldn't have bothered. Lots of reviews here talk about new wave cinema-who cares what kind of cinema it is? What's important is that it is engaging. This film did not engage me much at all. No complaints about the acting however; everyone in it was fine although a few scenes felt a tad stilted or irrelevant and the tedious scene where the child was playing the piano seemed to go on forever and really grated on my nerves. Ditto the final scene with the carol singers. The dialogue, while realistic and mainly believable, was not interesting and gave little or no insight into motive, relationship histories or character. It is one thing to present a slice of life to the audience, another to offer nothing different in doing so.

Sandra Milner This is a "slice of life" film. To give you an example, Fight Club is about the few months in which the main character establishes his first fight club and network of franchises across the country. It's a story that spans quite some time, so some parts are compressed - the highlights are shown, the rest is implied or shown in montages.Some films focus on a much thinner slice, the peak of the story. This story attempts that. We are not to see the beginning of the relationship, the honeymoon phase, the stagnation and then the affair. We are introduced to the characters already in the middle of the affair period.The "peak" of this story is the time Paul has to make a decision. Without spoiling the story (not that it could be spoiled), Paul has to chose between these two women, supposedly, according to the synopsis. With deductive reasoning, you can already guess that he is not the one who says "you have to make a choice" - this man is a cheater, his actions already show that he wants both at the same time. So you can guess that this "make a choice" ultimatum was made to him by someone.But there isn't really much of a choice. We are shown his two lives, a completely normal, uneventful domestic life with his wife and child on one hand and a new relationship on the other, with more passion, since it's the start. In short, one has brushing teeth, shaving and quiet dinners and the other has pillow talk.This is all from the photos, there are no spoilers here.Almost everything is in real time, meaning, we're not given the highlights. You know how pillow talk lasts 1 minute in films, whereas in real life it's 15? Don't worry about it, here you get the whole 15. You know how waiting rooms last a long time whereas in films it's seconds? Well, it's all in here. Do you want to see people Christmas shopping? In real time? It's here. It's all long takes.This film is a short film with little story fattened up with banal scenes that add nothing.Surely some will see it as some sort of Romanian version of American Beauty, i.e. the middle class dream is not all that great, but this film is seriously overrated. The reviews are all glowing, but it only has 7/10. The number of people giving it 9 and above is almost equal to the number of people giving it 5 and under. Consider that there is some pre-filtering going on. The average person would not watch a Romanian film to begin with, so the only people voting are people used to more minimalist foreign films. It's still not good though.The cinema of Romania has experienced many difficult decades, where filmmakers were not allowed to tell the truth about what was happening in their country. This film does not have any of these shackles. Instead, the director showed the real Romania, reality as it is, without a pinch of salt to boost the entertainment value.Either add a bit of spice to the film to make it more enjoyable or cut it smarter to only show the best parts of this normal life. Even if I were to edit my own boring life, I'd be able to make it interesting by editing out the boring parts.This film does not only not cut out the boring parts, it is just the boring parts. Those parts are the main focus and that's why it's getting such high praise from people who hate car-chase scenes and roof top fights. I hate car chases too, but I don't want to see a complete, uncut dental appointment from parking to exit.My friends did not finish this film but I did. They didn't even bother asking what happened later.Don't say you weren't warned.

Hasan Bilal Although the movie appears to be a modern day cliché in film making just by reading the plot summary, it is anything but. Yes it's a story about a much used concept of love triangles, yes it's a story about heartbreaks and infidelity, but seldom does one see a movie taking out the time to delicately develop the situational markers, the palpitating tension and the deep-rooted feeling of guilt and remorse. This movie paints an unadulterated picture of love, disloyalty and heartbreak. Where other movies include this concept as a plot enhancement or twist, director Radu Muntean sketches a brilliant exposé on a man's struggle between his love and his guilt amidst the delicate balance of family.

makeuplover69 Paul a married, middle aged, banker has a midlife crisis and is in a months long affair with his daughter's dental assistant. He struggles with staying with his wife and wanting to be with his much younger mistress.It is obvious from the beginning there is no spark left in the marriage and both Paul and his wife Adriana are just going through the motions of family life. They discuss their daughter's need for braces, her piano lesson schedule, and what to pick up at the supermarket. While their daughter brings them happiness the marriage seems mundane and lifeless.Paul has illicit trysts with his lover in her apartment and lies to his wife about being on the road for business. His lover gives him the freedom he desires and does not put any pressures on him to leave his wife. He comes and goes at will and that suits him to a point. When he is not with her he is thinking of her and finds excuses to see her.The best scene of the whole movie is when Paul confesses to Adriana about his affair and who it is with. It is a very emotional and traumatic time for Adriana who I believe gives the best performance.