Graduation
Parents, Romeo and Magda (Adrain Titieni, Lia Bugnar), find themselves caught in a web of disappointment and frustration with their own lives as their daughter Eliza (Maria-Victoria Dragus) nears her graduation from the Romanian equivalent of High School. Will any of the family manage to pull themselves from their destined tailspin?
Written and Directed by Cristian Mungiu, this slow burn into midlife crisis and family drama is portrayed not in broad brushes, but with subtle and small strokes to create a detailed sense of despair. Sparse in score, and underplayed in the audio department, yet, one viewing and the sound of a ringing phone is destined to conjure a Pavlovian response of panic to any witness. Mungiu makes his point at a lugubrious pace and offers plenty of conversation/discussion fodder just the same, this will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Perhaps a matinee for the foreign cinephiles, Graduation is rated R.