 |
| Mimi Branescu, Maria Popistasu, Sasa Paul-Szel, and Mirela Oprisor in Tuesday, After Christmas |
Tuesday, After Christmas has virtually no plot. It's more of a series of tableaus, scenes composed of long takes, as the marriage of Paul (Mimi Branescu) and Adriana (Mirela Oprisor) disintegrates under the pressure of Paul's affair with Raluca (Maria Popistasu). It takes place over the Christmas weekend, starting with the naked Paul and Raluca in bed, followed by scenes of Christmas shopping by Paul and Adriana, a visit by Paul and Adriana and their daughter to the girl's dentist, who is none other than Raluca, Paul's visit to Raluca in another city where she's gone to see her mother, climaxing in a scene in which Paul confesses the affair to Adriana, followed by their separation, and concluding with a terrifically uncomfortable Christmas dinner with Paul's parents, who are, like the daughter, still unaware of the impending divorce. It ends on a quiet note, a simple gesture in which Adriana hands a present to Paul behind her back. The film gets its forward drive from the performances, from the things the characters say -- and don't say -- to each other. It's a fly-on-the-wall movie, with the viewer stuck there uncomfortably watching things work out, tempted to flee but hypnotized by our own voyeuristic interest in the way things will go next. There's a theatricality to the film in Radu Muntean's use of long takes, each of which lasts several minutes, making us aware of the skill of performers who can't rely on multiple retakes to get a scene right, but it never feels stagy. Instead, it feels observed, which may be the film's strength for those who like to savor the moment as well as its greatest weakness for those who want an imposed significance.
No comments:
Post a Comment