Soldatii. Poveste din Ferentari (2017)

Adi (40), a shy and introverted anthropologist, who got recently dumped by his girlfriend, moves to Ferentari, the poorest and most notorious neighborhood of Bucharest. He wants to write a ... See full summary »

Director:

Ivana Mladenovic

Writers:

Ivana Mladenovic, Adrian Schiop

Stars:

Dan Bursuc, Sorin Cocis, Cezar Grumazescu

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Dan Bursuc	...	The Manager
Sorin Cocis	...	The Policeman
Cezar Grumazescu	...	Vasi (as Cezar Grumarescu)
Kana Hashimoto	...	Brigitte
Stefan Iancu	...	Andrei
Nicolae Marin	...	Borcan
Vasile Pavel	...	Alberto
Adrian Schiop	...	Adi

Storyline

Adi (40), a shy and introverted anthropologist, who got recently dumped by his girlfriend, moves to Ferentari, the poorest and most notorious neighborhood of Bucharest. He wants to write a study on manele music, the 'pop music' of the Roma community. Manele music serves as a way out of poverty for some successful musicians, but more often it's just another opportunity for the mafia pimps to make money off their acts and keep them in slave-like dependency. While researching this subject, Adi meets Alberto, a Roma ex-convict and a bear of a man, who promises Adi to help him. Soon enough, the unlikely pair begins a playful romance in which Adi feeds Alberto with improbable plans of escaping poverty, while Alberto feeds Adi with phrases of love. Little by little, their casual affair grows into love. And the funny and sweet teasing turns into something precarious, since Alberto is both dangerous and fragile and belongs to a world whose codes Adi doesn't understand.

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Plot Keywords:

romani people | romani | roma | anthropologist | anthropology | 

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Taglines:

A modern "Romeo & Juliet" set in the Roma community on the outskirts of Bucharest.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

Romania Serbia Belgium

Language:

Romanian

Release Date:

2 February 2018 (Romania)

Also Known As:

Bir Mahalle Hikâyesi

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film House Bas Celik,Frakas Productions,HI Film Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A bit messy but so real

I saw it in Istanbul Film Festival, and the strength of the movie was crystal clear to me: At least 10 people (who are supposed to be from the intellectual, liberal community of Istanbul) immediately left the hall by the time the two guys got close to each other (even before they were nude or kissing). So that was not totally because they were homophobic, it was mostly because this homosexual relationship was not aestheticized as they were used to (blue is the warmest color etc): The gay couple was two poor, not-so-handsome guys in a dirty, shabby flat. (And one of them was even a Roma, can you believe it?)

So this is what I expect from realist cinema: change the game, invade the comfort zones and shock the prejudiced.

I also want to note the similarities to a Turkish movie that drew my attention. The movie is Gelecek Uzun Sürer ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2033997/ ) which tells the story of a Turkish sociologist going to the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir to write her thesis on Kurdish requiems. Similarly again, Like Adi, the protagonist in that movie too was looking cold-hearted and reserved too. I think the message is obvious: The science is always "cold" even when it is in a "love story" with its scientific object.