Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
Original title: Poliţist. adj.
Romania, 2009, 115 minutes – An IFC Films release
Cast: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Cosmin Selesi, Irina Saulescu, Ion Stoica.
Official selection of Romania for the 82nd Academy Awards
Official Selection — New York Film Festival
Winner — Grand Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Prize, Cannes Film Festival
Production: 42 KM Film production, in association with Racova, Raza Studio, with the participation of HBO Romania
This beautifully acted, modern morality play from Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest) features what may be movie history’s most absurdly protracted police sting operation, designed to catch a lone high school student in the act of selling drugs. Cristi, the cop assigned to the case, realizes the futility of the mission, though his attempts to convince his bureaucratic superiors are met with contempt, derision, and the reminder that it is not his place to question the letter of the law. But letters and laws — of both the legal and grammatical kind — are very much on Porumboiu’s mind as the long, nearly wordless scenes of the film’s first half give way to a show-stopping final act of Stoppardian verbosity in which cop and police chief (unforgettably played by Vlad Ivanov) engage in an exhilarating verbal tennis match about conscience, personal morality and the true meaning of language. (New York Film Festival)
“Further proof of the strength of the Romanian New Wave.” — Manohla Dargis, New York Times