THE FIXER (FIXEUR)
CWC D: Adrian Sitaru. Romania/France. 98 min. Sep 9, 9:30 pm, Scotiabank 10 Sep 11, 1:45 pm, Scotiabank 8 Sep 17, 6 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3. Rating: NNNN
When Romanian-born Radu (Tudor Istodor), an ambitious trainee at a French news network, tips off his colleagues about a story involving an underage prostitute who’s been repatriated from France to her native Romania, he acts as the “fixer” (translator and go-between) to get the journalists an exclusive interview with the girl in a small village.
Sitaru effortlessly balances the demands of the thriller genre with careful characterizations and a sympathetic, never-judgmental look at poverty and crime. The film abounds with great scenes, including an Edith Piaf song duet in a bar that carries symbolic weight.
Grounding it all is Istodor, whose nervous and restless Radu, also a demanding young father, sinks deeper into moral grey areas.