Pozitia copilului (2013)

After the terrible news of a fatal car accident involving her son, a desperate mother will do anything in her powers to set her child free.

Director:

Cãlin Peter Netzer

Writers:

Razvan Radulescu (screenplay), Cãlin Peter Netzer (screenplay)

Stars:

Luminita Gheorghiu, Bogdan Dumitrache, Natasa Raab

13 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luminita Gheorghiu	...	Cornelia Keneres
Bogdan Dumitrache	...	Barbu
Natasa Raab	...	Olga Cerchez
Ilinca Goia	...	Carmen
Florin Zamfirescu	...	Domnul Aurelian Fagarasanu
Vlad Ivanov	...	Dinu Laurentiu
Mimi Branescu	...	Policeman
Cerasela Iosifescu
Adrian Titieni	...	Child's father
Tania Popa
Leontina Vaduva	...	Leontina Vaduva, the Soprano (as Leontina Väduva)
Ion Grosu
Oxana Moravec
Mihai Dorobantu
Nicolae Scarlat

Storyline

Seeing a way to reassert control over her adult son's life when he faces manslaughter charges, an affluent Romanian woman sets out on a campaign of emotional and social manipulation to keep him out of prison, navigating the waters of power, corruption and influence. Child's Pose is based on the sense of loss of parents who have to send their children away-physically and psychologically. The parent-child relationship is re-assessed through a son in his 30s that wants to escape from his mother, who in turn wants to keep her adult son by her side. The mother's character is quite familiar, but this film is unique in that the director delicately portrays how the controlling mother wants to deny that her son is destined to leave her by following the characters' emotional flows and gazing at their twisted desires. Luminita Gheorghiu turns in an extraordinary performance in playing a mother struggling to "save" her son. Heading to the conclusion, the film shows that the unhealthy mother-son ...

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Plot Keywords:

tragedy | familial stereotypes | problem | alienation | precinct | 

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Taglines:

A mother's love knows no limits.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

Romania

Language:

Romanian

Release Date:

8 March 2013 (Romania)

Also Known As:

Child's Pose

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Box Office

Budget:

€850,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$78,138 (Romania), 4 March 2013, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,955, 23 February 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$94,853, 27 April 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Parada Film,Hai Hui Entertainement,HBO Romania

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Italy the title was re-written with a typo in it ('Il Caso Kerenes' instead of the correct spelling of the family name Keneres) and the film was advertised on posters and published on DVD with this typo there.

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Quotes

Cornelia Keneres: What did I do wrong?
Barbu: Never mind now. I'm putting this on the table. You can say yes or no. You either let me call you when I feel like it, or it's nothing. And a suggestion. If it's hard, find a substitute. A dog, a lover, a hobby. People your age visit the Pyramids.
Cornelia Keneres: Other people my age have a normal relationship with their child. Parents find their fulfillment in their children. Everything they failed to accomplish, they achieve through their children.
Barbu: So we're agreed.

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Soundtracks

Meravigliosa creatura
(1995)
Written by Gianna Nannini and Mara Redigheri
Performed by Gianna Nannini

User Reviews

Well constructed script, an inside view in contemporary Romania, and a vivisection of family relationships as aftermath of a car accident,

I saw this film at the Berlinale 2013, as part of the official Competition. It won the Golder Bear, by the way, awarded as "Best film" by the International Jury. The average IMDb score of 8.7 from 145 users confirms this. The user reviews, however, are very extreme in both directions: 1 very positive, and 2 very negative. Mine is positive too, independently since my notes were written directly after the screening.

What struck me from beginning to end was that all facts and backgrounds of the respective characters were presented at the right moment, something that helps greatly in understanding how the narrative flows. Many other films leave us too much to outguess, even some from experienced directors and script writers who ought to know better.

The mother figure is set out from the start as someone who always gets what she wants, either by pulling strings via someone she knows socially or professionally, or by bribing people when the need arises. The openings scenes show her birthday party, where we see many important people, setting out very clearly the social circles she normally frequents. In the police station we see her using her "network" by contacting higher echelons to smooth the process. And she promises a favor to one of the policemen whose house is threatened to be torn down, since it is deemed too close to the beach as a result of changed housing rules, and as an expert (being an architect) she knows how to bend the rules in such cases.

Of course, the best example of how she tries to adapt an unwelcome truth in her favor, is when she attempts to bribe the chief witness. An interesting negotiation process follows, making very clear to us that she is used to obtain the desired outcome much faster than is happening in this case. Contrary to popular belief, money is not always sufficient. Her obvious contempt for people not belonging to her "class", proves to be a stumbling block here. Will she ever learn that one can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?? One of her obvious faults is exposed here.

But there is more along this line. A still more important shortcoming is her insensitivity for internal relationships within her family, firstly with her son who is a crucial factor in this story but not at all happy with her efforts to keep him out of jail, and secondly with her husband who admits to have been the lenient partner until now but is not prepared to go on like this. It takes her plenty of time to start grasping what is happening here, proverbially as if her world is crumbling down under her hands. It is obvious that she means well, but trying to bend things her way seems a mere automatism, without even bothering to ask if someone wants her meddling.

A mere side effect of seeing this film is that I forgot everything I've ever read about Eastern European countries, like inefficient police force, lazy bureaucrats, retarded technology, etcetera. This film shows that all of this is not true. The police acts very competently, at least in the scenes we see in this film, and we have no clue that this is not standard operating procedure. Same applies to the doctor who was needed for the alcohol test, and the forensic expert who assesses the damage of the car in order to draw conclusions about the accident. Moreover, technology (gadgets) wise it looks not different from what we have here in Western Europe. In other words, sightseeing (more or less) this former communist country was an extra surprise for me.

Though reluctantly, a considerable part of the family travels to the house of the killed child to meet the parents. Their prime purpose was to offer that they pay for the funeral, but effectively turning out very different from the short, obligatory and cold visit they originally had in mind. Judge for yourself when seeing this important scene whether there is eventually a spark of human contact between the two families.

All in all, I have only positive things to say about this film. I cannot agree with any of the two negative user reviews on IMDb posted before. What else can I add, other than applauding the decision of the Berlinale jury and the high average score of 8.7 given by 145 IMDb users.