An up-and-coming employee of a big bank has never paid much attention to the nanny taking care of his son. However, one day he is given a huge career opportunity involving a European infrastructure project for Romania. Realizing that the nanny is both a Romanian and a good linguist, he comes to rely on her for advice and translation. Soon the both of them are touring Moldavia, promoting the idea of a picturesque "Monastery Route" sure to bring wealth and happiness...
"La forêt" is mainly a drama, with some thriller elements. The title is a pun, since it can mean both "The silver forest" (after the colour of the trees) or "The money forest". The movie condemns the kind of European development policy which speaks a lot of culture, exchange, fraternity while achieving little but ecological degradation or loss of tradition. The movie also condemns the way in which inter- and supranational institutions interfere in the life of average citizens, who are supposed to get with the project du jour, whether this involves moving to another village, learning a foreign language or dancing the lindy hop amongst the bell peppers.
Personally I would have developed the thriller aspects more deeply, because this had the potential to become an outstanding suspense or mystery thriller. It still is a decent drama movie about a topical subject. You sort of expect, from the beginning, that it is going to end badly for nanny Roxana, but the how and why of her downfall remains interesting...
"La forêt" is mainly a drama, with some thriller elements. The title is a pun, since it can mean both "The silver forest" (after the colour of the trees) or "The money forest". The movie condemns the kind of European development policy which speaks a lot of culture, exchange, fraternity while achieving little but ecological degradation or loss of tradition. The movie also condemns the way in which inter- and supranational institutions interfere in the life of average citizens, who are supposed to get with the project du jour, whether this involves moving to another village, learning a foreign language or dancing the lindy hop amongst the bell peppers.
Personally I would have developed the thriller aspects more deeply, because this had the potential to become an outstanding suspense or mystery thriller. It still is a decent drama movie about a topical subject. You sort of expect, from the beginning, that it is going to end badly for nanny Roxana, but the how and why of her downfall remains interesting...
