Angling (2008)

The story of some ordinary people who undergo a relationship crisis, as well as a consciousness crisis - people who find themselves in an extreme situation and give up their principles.

Director:

Adrian Sitaru

Writer:

Adrian Sitaru

Stars:

Adrian Titieni, Ioana Flora, Maria Dinulescu

8 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Adrian Titieni	...	Mihai
Ioana Flora	...	Iubi
Maria Dinulescu	...	Ana-Violeta
Alexandru Georgescu	...	Van driver
Sorin Vasilescu	...	Gamekeeper
Nicodim Ungureanu	...	Ionut
Monica Nica
Maria Ionita
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Claudia Ruse	...	Kid
Gabi Ruse	...	Kid

Storyline

Mihai is a maths teacher from Bucharest, unhappy about the compromises that his school headmistress asks him to make. The story starts on a weekend day when Mihai and his lover, SWEETIE, go out for a picnic just to relax a bit after a very stressful week. But the day takes a different course when Sweetie runs their car over a prostitute, on a side road outside Bucharest. The two lovers fight, as Sweetie wants to cover up the accident, while Mihai, a moralist, can't accept that. Sweetie's aggressiveness wins over meek Mihai, and so they decide to hide the woman's corpse in the forest. The prostitute, however, turns out to be not that badly hurt and recovers. The two dodge, pretending they had found her hurt, and Ana, the hooker, invites herself to the picnic. Ana gradually gets into the couple's life, aggressing Sweetie, warming up to Mihai and being indifferent when they are all together. While meaning well, she lies and manipulates them - but then anyone can see that Ana, even if not...

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Plot Keywords:

sex worker | romanian new wave | prostitute | picnic | fishing | 

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Taglines:

Lies for Survival

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Adrian Sitaru on the differences between his first work-in-progress-version and the released final version: "The structure is not different at all, except for a few details, but, technically speaking, this is a completely different film. Given that Angling (2008) was shot on MiniDV, it really looks and sounds amazing at the moment. The French producers did an incredible job with the film's color correction and sound design. They basically re-invented all the ambient sound, as we hadn't recorded anything else than the characters' dialogues on the set, sometimes also affected by outdoor sounds or the car's engine. The film really looks like true cinema in the current version and I am very thankful to my co-producers for making all that amazing work possible." [2009]

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Quotes

Mihai: I would do anything for you... if I can help you with something or...
Ana-Violeta: You could, you know...
Mihai: What?
Ana-Violeta: I want to fuck.

User Reviews

Another remarkable artwork of the New Romanian Cinema

Adrian Sitaru shows here the grit to take on an immense risk - and make it worth: a movie made up exclusively of subjective angles: the camera alternatively substitutes itself to each of the three main characters, and also to the secondary and cameo ones. The effect is "BlairWitchian" (or "Cloverfieldesque") and it works perfectly. Far of being just a cinematographic stunt, the method is invested with serious expressive values, contributing to the significant developing of the relationships between the characters.

One should also remark the well built script, the crescendo of terror, the economy of means - everything reminding, in the best possible vein, of Polanski's "Nóz w wodzie" ("Knife in the Water"). Special kudos for the characters, extremely credible, coherent in their inner complexity, realistic but also insolite. Definitely, a lesson in creating live humans on screen, and carry them to unbearable heights of tension.

Finally, we must underscore the tremendous merit of making this valuable piece of art as an independent project, using digital technique and with virtually no budget. Fortunately, it turned out so good, that the producers finished by finding the financing for conversion on film. Definitely, Adrian Sitaru is a new gain for Romanian and European cinema!

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Romania] Rezo Films [France]

Country:

Romania France

Language:

Romanian

Release Date:

4 February 2009 (France)

Also Known As:

Angling

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Box Office

Budget:

EUR100,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$227,195

Company Credits

Production Co:

4 Proof Film, Arte France Cinéma, Movie Partners In Motion Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1