SIERANEVADA
MAST D: Cristi Puiu. Romania. 176 min. Sep 13, 9:15 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 Sep 17, 2:45 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2. Rating: NNNN
Shooting with a stationary camera, director Puiu lets the dialogue carry this dense, insightful, nearly three-hour realist drama built around a feast held 40 days after the death of a family’s patriarch.
The priest is late and the meal can’t start without his blessing, so there’s ample time to delve into the characters’ lives. The Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack has just happened, adding one more layer to the conversation. Talk of old slights, marital infidelity, conspiracy theories and communism feels so natural, it’s as if the audience were eavesdropping, crammed into the overstuffed Bucharest apartment.
Patient viewers will be rewarded.
