The film (who should be honored) to start Welcome to Two Years Ago!: Radu Muntean's TUESDAY, AFTER CHRISTMAS. (Hooray! Applause! Congratulations! Bows!) I decided to choose this film, from the Romanian New Wave, to celebrate this inauguration because what other type of film can portray such excitement, such chaos, such fun as a film from the RNW.
Paul Hanganu, an ordinary (maybe even boring) man, has been having an affair with Raluca, his daughter's orthodontist, for five months. As Christmas comes closer, it gets harder and harder for him to maintain his two lives: the one with his wife, Adriana, and daughter, and the one with Raluca. It's not that he gets weird, suspicious phone calls in the night and it's not that he's running out of good excuses to go see Raluca. His secret is safe (at least Adriana hasn't said anything). Instead, it's just that he loves Raluca and wants (needs) to see her more.
Like most stories about infidelity, this one is also mundane and banal. We've seen this before. But maybe not with the sympathy and care for its characters that TUESDAY shows. We understand where Paul is coming from. His life with Adriana seems to have no spark anymore. It's all business with them. But there's also an extreme intimacy there that only a long-lived couple can attain, where they seem to truly understand each other. Both of these moments are captured in one scene where Adriana is trimming Paul's hair in the bathroom. She's in her bathrobe and Paul is completely nude. His poor posture indicates his dissatisfaction with his current life. Still, Adriana finishes and calls him handsome. It's a brilliant moment that may not seem much on paper, but in reality the complexities are immediately apparent.
Once again, the long takes that is the RNW is known for create a sense of realism to the whole ordeal. It even seems that we're watching this family fall apart in real time. During these extremely long takes the camera shows us only what it wants us to. Instead of watching Adriana and Raluca discuss the dental plan for Adriana's daughter, the camera is only focused on Paul, leaving everyone else off screen. While we see his discomfort, we sense his panic. It's a great trick to bring intensity into a scene that is by no means inherently tense while keeping the realism of the film intact.
While the realism and characterizations are great, it still can't lift the weight of the lump story, which like I said, is just mundane. Admittedly, there is more to the story, I think. Unfortunately, I don't know what to make of it. Literally every conversation that doesn't involve the affair are about gifts. What is this person getting that person for Christmas? I got this person that present. Oh he'll love that. You shouldn't spoil her. I know, but it's my pleasure. We are constantly bombarded with conversations about gifts. Maybe there's a parallel here. Maybe the film is just emphasizing the spark that is gained back from transitioning into a free-market economy, just like Paul has gained a new spark with Raluca. I'm still not entirely sure. Regardless, this is one film that I won't be putting as one of the greats of the RNW, but it's decent.
Paul Hanganu, an ordinary (maybe even boring) man, has been having an affair with Raluca, his daughter's orthodontist, for five months. As Christmas comes closer, it gets harder and harder for him to maintain his two lives: the one with his wife, Adriana, and daughter, and the one with Raluca. It's not that he gets weird, suspicious phone calls in the night and it's not that he's running out of good excuses to go see Raluca. His secret is safe (at least Adriana hasn't said anything). Instead, it's just that he loves Raluca and wants (needs) to see her more.
Once again, the long takes that is the RNW is known for create a sense of realism to the whole ordeal. It even seems that we're watching this family fall apart in real time. During these extremely long takes the camera shows us only what it wants us to. Instead of watching Adriana and Raluca discuss the dental plan for Adriana's daughter, the camera is only focused on Paul, leaving everyone else off screen. While we see his discomfort, we sense his panic. It's a great trick to bring intensity into a scene that is by no means inherently tense while keeping the realism of the film intact.
While the realism and characterizations are great, it still can't lift the weight of the lump story, which like I said, is just mundane. Admittedly, there is more to the story, I think. Unfortunately, I don't know what to make of it. Literally every conversation that doesn't involve the affair are about gifts. What is this person getting that person for Christmas? I got this person that present. Oh he'll love that. You shouldn't spoil her. I know, but it's my pleasure. We are constantly bombarded with conversations about gifts. Maybe there's a parallel here. Maybe the film is just emphasizing the spark that is gained back from transitioning into a free-market economy, just like Paul has gained a new spark with Raluca. I'm still not entirely sure. Regardless, this is one film that I won't be putting as one of the greats of the RNW, but it's decent.
I'm not sure why you say most stories about infidelity are banal and mundane. Just thinking about most famous films about infidelity, I feel like this is patently untrue; consider: Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal, Dial M for Murder. So when you say that we've seen this before, I'm not really sure what you mean.
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DeleteTake two: I'll give you that, sure. I just feel like a basic infidelity story (which is what I feel this is) is too simple to be interesting.
DeletePerhaps I was a bit premature, and I guess this sort of everyday infidelity is seen more commonly in "art films". Your qualifying sentence "But maybe not with the sympathy and care for its characters that TUESDAY shows." complicates the notion of banality already.
DeleteI want to say that rather than flying in the face of its banality by means of some stylistic flair or excellence in performance, TUESDAY succeeds necessarily because of its commonplace narrative.