Review: Periferic (Romania, 2010) - Concorso Internazionale

Image courtesy of Festivale del Film Locarno

It took me 6 days to find an astonishing movie here at the Festival del Film Locarno.

Periferic (Outbound), by Romanian director Bogdan George Apetri, shows us the 24 hours of leave Matilda gets from the women prison to attend her mother’s funeral. The film starts at dawn and ends at dawn. These 24 hours are dramatically condensed in a terrific story supported by magnificent performances of literally every actor. One performance stands out though. The one of Ana Ularu, portraying Matilda.

From the opening scenes we see a troubled young woman hardened by prison life who’s planning to escape the country (Romania) while being on leave. The first person she meets is no family. No friend either, but a truckdriver. The husband of one of the other inmates who has agreed (for a considerable fee) to smuggle Matilda out of the country. Matilda rarely speaks; nonetheless her body language and facial expression are so poignant that words are useless. The film is cleverly constructed on visits during this day to three of the most important men in her life.

The first is Andrei, her older brother, another brilliant performance by Andi Vasluianu. Matilda’s past is so compromised that when she visits him straight out of prison he doesn’t know how to react. His wife is very clear and flat out rejects the whole idea of her criminal sister-in-law attending the funeral, and has no problems in sharing this with Matilda in harsh words. The following scenes, including the burial of their mother, show a complicated relationship between brother and sister. Andrei loves his sister but is not man enough to stand up against his dominant wife and let’s her down in a heartbreaking scene. Just one of many to follow. The second man she pays a visit is her former lover Paul, portrayed by Mimi Branescu. A cynical, ruthless playboy-criminal who she took the rap for, ending in prison. He is the father of Matilda’s son Toma, who Paul coldly dumped in an orphanage after the incarceration of Matilda. Toma is the third man. Before going to prison she made a deal with Paul, involving money. Money she desperately needs to get out. The movie deals with a young woman’s struggle for freedom, reclaiming her son and trying to come to terms with her family who’s ashamed of her past. Apetri shows us a strong woman giving everything she has to achieve her goals in just 24 hours in a race against time. It’s set during a summer day, and I felt myself hoping to keep seeing daylight. Daylight meant she had time. Time to succeed, to ultimately change life for herself and her son, Toma, portrayed by the beautiful young actor Timotei Duma.

The film is gritty and well shot. The camera is always following Matilda getting up-close , registering every nuance in her face. The film is action packed and an emotional rollercoaster which compel the audience to root for the anti-hero Matilda. An anti-hero because Apetri clearly shows that Matilda isn’t only a victim, but also someone who made bad decisions in her past.

Bogdan George Apetri is New-York based, he graduated in film directing and cinematography at Columbia University. No stranger to American Cinema, as this movie proves. Apetri, just like Aronofsky, manages to make his protagonist so human, so real, you must care as an audience. You have no choice than to get involved with the protagonist who is his or her own worst enemy, just like Randy the Ram in The Wrestler Apetri and Aronofsky seem to be the new exponents of New Hollywood Cinema . The torch, lit by Scorsese, Coppola, Friedkin and Schrader is being passed on to young directors like Apetri., who rely on strong performances, a no-nonse approach and passion for story. Periferic (which means peripheral) is a film about it’s very title. Not only in it’s surroundings but even more about all the characters, living and operating on the edges of society, each struggling for a better life going against all the odds. Lot’s of movies are made concerning this theme in Europe nowadays. It’s very much in vogue. Most tend to be melodramatic, or the other extreme, too cerebral and politic in it’s approach. They are more or less studies on modern day Europe in decay. Forgetting about character and story. Cinematic essays, not cinematic experiences. Apetri focuses on character and story exposing through the pain of his lead and the clarity and thrusting force of the narrative more than any film or documentary I’ve seen on the Festival de film Locarno.

A work of art has the power to attack the nervous system of a human being, provoking an immediate emotional response, not an intellectual one. Seeing this film amidst all other films at this festival was like walking through a museum you’ve never visited before packed with Social Realism paintings to ultimately discover a Francis Bacon, sending shivers to your spinal chord. And that’s what it ‘s all about.

Keep an eye on Bogdan George Apetri. I know I will!

Rating: ****