#923: MUNGIU, Cristian: Beyond The Hills (2012)

MUNGIU, Cristian (Romania)
Beyond The Hills [2012]
Spine #923
Blu-ray

With this arresting drama based on notorious real-life events, Cristian Mungiu mounts a complex inquiry into faith, fanaticism, and indifference. At a desolate Romanian monastery, a young novice nun, Voichiţa (Cosmina Stratan), reunites with her former companion Alina (Cristina Flutur), who plans to take her to Germany. But Voichiţa proves unwilling to abandon her calling, and Alina becomes increasingly desperate to reclaim her devotion, putting the outsider at odds with the monastery's ascetic priest — and precipitating a painfully misguided, brutal attempt to save her soul. A naturalistic tragedy with the dark force of a folktale, anchored by the fraught dynamic between cinema newcomers Flutur and Stratan (who shared the best actress prize at Cannes), Beyond the Hills bears powerful witness to individuals at cross-purposes and institutions ill-equipped to help those most in need.

152 minutes

Color
5.1 Surround
in Romanian
2:39:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2018

Director/Writers

Inspired by the nonfiction novels of Tatiana Niculecu Bran.

Cristian Mungiu was 44 when he wrote and directed Beyond the Hills.

Other Mungiu films in the Collection:

#958: 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (2007)
#924: Graduation (2016)

The Film

Mungiu is just the type of auteur filmmaker that perfectly suits the Collection. There is no soundtrack, only diegetic sound, and most of the takes are quite long, giving the film a sweep absent in over-edited cinema.

Mungiu is also completely non-judgmental in a fictional recreation of a true incident. The viewer is left to ponder the significance of this or that character; of this or that situation — but never does he insert any commentary — especially with the use of those long, unedited takes which requires the viewer to ponder the story, long after the film is over.

Cosmina Stratan (Voichita) and Cristina Flutur (Alina) shared the Best Actress at Cannes, and deservedly so. They both play amazingly authentic characters — each with intense emotional baggage — and with Mungiu’s guidance, hold the viewer in rapt attention.

Valeriu Andriuta (Priest) is equally authentic as the sincere, but perhaps misguided, Papa. Equally mesmerizing is Dana Tapalagá (Mama Superior).

Not a false moment in the 152 minutes, which fly by without a frame of tedium.

The very last shot in the film is like a devastating Kurosawa wipe — literally.

Bravo.

Film Rating (0-60):

57

The Extras

The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by film scholar Doru Pop.

“Mungiu, more than most of his cohort, operates at a subtextual level. His narrative frameworks serve only to provide the structure for subtler and more hidden meanings to develop. All his movies contain stories within stories, and Beyond the Hills demonstrates particularly well the logic of Mungiu’s offscreen cinema. This film is never about only what we see immediately in its visual field; much of the storytelling takes place outside the frame itself, and each sequence suggests several stories unfolding within the main one. One of the best illustrations of this mode of cinematic telling is the fact that a central element of the plot — Vichita and Alina’s time at the Bârlard orphanage — is never discussed directly. Brief references like the interview at the police station, in which an officer interrogates Voichita about a German citizen who took photos of the orphaned children, are pieces that the spectator must use to mentally reconstruct the larger puzzle of what is not explicit.”

Commentary

None.

Interview

With Mungiu.

A brilliant man; a confident young auteur.

The Making of “Beyond the Hills”

A documentary from 2013, produced by Mingiu.

A brilliant making-of doc, which brings the complex intricacies of the production directly to the viewer.

Press conference

From the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, featuring Mingiu and actors Stratan, Flutur, Andriujá, and Tapalagá.

Mingiu is fluent in both English and French — and probably other languages — and most of the questions are directed to him, which he answers with precision, refusing to use mere words to describe the film. The others get a few moments, and Tapalagá — a seriously religious person, like her character — admits she still hadn’t seen the finished film. She sheepishly wondered if her priest would allow her to attend church!

Deleted scenes

All finished takes — clearly showing what a great editor Mungiu is. Some scenes contain dialogue that remained in the film, but filmed in a different setting.

Trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

36

57 + 36 =

93

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