Police, Adjective (2009)

A police officer refuses to arrest a young man for offering drugs to his friends.

Director:

Corneliu Porumboiu

Writer:

Corneliu Porumboiu

Stars:

Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Ion Stoica

15 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dragos Bucur	...	Cristi
Vlad Ivanov	...	Anghelache
Ion Stoica	...	Nelu
Irina Saulescu	...	Anca
Cerasela Trandafir	...	Gina
Marian Ghenea	...	Prosecutor
Cosmin Selesi	...	Costi
Serban Georgevici	...	Sica
George Remes	...	Vali (as Remes George)
Adina Dulcu	...	Dana
Dan Cogalniceanu	...	Gica
Costi Dita	...	Officer on Duty
Alexandru Sabadac	...	Alex
Anca Diaconu	...	Doina
Radu Costin	...	Victor

Storyline

In grim, dull Vaslui, Cristi is a young police officer, conscientious, laconic, recently married to Anca, a teacher. He's tailing a kid who smokes pot and may be supplying his friends. Cristi dislikes the assignment: the kid's clearly not a dealer, an arrest would ruin his life, and, Cristi assumes that Romania will soon tolerate marijuana. His superior tells him flatly that the law is the law and to finish the case with a quick arrest. Cristi wants to follow the informant, a youth whose father is a builder. Cristi watches, he smokes, he writes reports, he wants to meet with the prosecutor. Can a cop have a conscience? Is the noun being modified "procedural" or "state"?

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Plot Keywords:

police | police officer | marijuana | prosecutor | romania | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Romania's official submission to 82nd Academy Award's Foreign Language in 2010.

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Connections

Spin-off The Whistlers (2019)

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Soundtracks

Nu te parasesc iubire
Performed by Mirabela Dauer
Arranged by Dan Dimitriu
Lyrics by Dan Ioan Pantoiu
Produced by Roton Music
Played and discussed at Cristi's home

User Reviews

conscience meets adjectives

I recently saw "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days", about a woman's efforts to have an abortion in Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania. Now comes "Politist, adj." ("Police, Adjective" in English), Romania's submission to the Academy Awards as Best Foreign Language Film of 2009. This one looks at small-town cop Cristi (Dragos Bucur) assigned to investigate a boy smoking hashish, and how he begins to have misgivings about the ethical ramifications of the task.

What strikes me is how much this small town in Romania looks like Russia. Most of the buildings all have a very Eastern Bloc look. To be certain, there are a few scenes where Dragos goes to the boy's house in what appears to be a posher section of the town, with more modern-looking houses. Many of the scenes in the film are long shots, especially the scene where Cristi and his superior use the dictionary to debate the true meaning of conscience and other words.

I don't know if I would call this the greatest movie ever made, but I still recommend it. The scene where Cristi eats dinner while his wife has an obnoxious song playing on the computer really shows Cristi's break in terms of conscience, just because of how he reacts.

Anyway, I like to get to see cultures that we don't often see, and I really liked this movie. I hope that Romania gives us more like this.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Romania

Language:

Romanian

Release Date:

3 July 2009 (Romania)

Also Known As:

Police, Adjective

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Budget:

EUR800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,452, 27 December 2009

Gross USA:

$53,206

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$162,974

Company Credits

Production Co:

42 Km Film, Periscop Film, Racova

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1