Graduation [Bacalaureat] ***** (2016, Adrian Titieni, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Rares Andrici) – Movie Review

Romanian writer-director Cristian Mungiu’s drama is a precision-tooled marvel as he examines the sacrifices and compromises demanded of parents. The combination of subtle and hard hitting is brilliant. Mungiu won Best Director as Cannes, tied with Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper (2016).

As the sincere middle-aged doctor tempted to do anything to secure his 17-year-old daughter Eliza’s future, Adrian Titieni is so natural, real and convincing you think you are watching a documentary. And Mungiu explores the film’s Transylvania mountain town setting and its inhabitants in the same achingly realist style.

On the day before her exam that she has to pass for a scholarship to study psychology in the UK, Eliza (Maria-Victoria Dragus) is assaulted, throwing her into turmoil and jeopardising her future. Titieni’s Romeo Aldea is ready to compromise his dearly held principles to help the very daughter he has taught a strong sense of values. It is quite a conundrum, and Mungiu turns it into something near a nail-biting mystery thriller along with prestige Cannes Film Festival winning personal drama.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review

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