TIFF 2009: POLICE, ADJECTIVE
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 3:13PM | Mitchell Tully 
Released: 2009
Directed by: Corneliu Porumboiu
Starring: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Ion Stoica, Irina Saulescu
Genre: Crime Drama
Short Review:
Police, Adjective is a simple story about a cop trailing a teenager that has been seen offering a joint to his friends. While I feel the film is a fair and accurate depiction of what police work is actually like, such as a lot of waiting around and following suspects in hope to get crucial evidence, I found the presentation of these scenes were too long and over-used. I found myself a lot more interested in the smaller scenes between Cristi and his wife or coworkers - they were far more interesting because it depicts Cristi's motivation as well as his character. Overall, a well-shot film with an interesting premise, just a little too stretched out for me.
Full Review:
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this film. I don't think I've ever seen a Romanian film before and my preconceived notions of what a cop film would be like was primary based on action or detective films. I was deeply intrigued by the realistic approach the film took in showing police work, as opposed to a more Dirty Harry-esque cop film. Even though I thought the film’s premise was interesting, I couldn't help but feel bored watching Police, Adjective and constantly caught myself debating on whether or not I should remain for the entire film. While I do have some criticisms for the Police, Adjective, I'm happy that I decided to remain for the entire picture because the interactions between the main character and his wife, as well as with his coworkers, were easily the high points of the film, and was quite enjoyable.
The story of Police, Adjective is quite simple, Cristi (Dragos Bucur) is an undercover cop assigned to follow a teenager seen offering a joint to a classmate. Cristi's chief wants him to either arrest the supplier or the kid. The major twist for this film is that Cristi is having some misgivings about arresting the teenager because the punishment would entail several years in jail for a crime that might be removed in a few years, as well as the likelihood that it would easily ruin the rest of his life. The film’s plot seems quite simple, aiming to be an investigation into the motives as well as the actions a police officer takes towards an investigation he's doubting. I feel that some of the film’s intentional motivation for Cristi is also key to my main complaints.
For most of the film, we are usually following the teen’s movements between his house and school. Shortly after, we see Cristi walking the exact same route only a few moments later. I understand that showing us these sequences a number of times is used to describe the unquestionable monotony of Cristi’s job, as well as to allow the audience to judge the suspect’s actions - almost as if we were Cristi’s partners. My major complaint is the film’s frequent desire to show the audience every single one of Cristi’s “chase” sequences, because they can become quite (I’m sorry to say) boring, even though they are well used to justify Cristi’s reluctance to arrest the teenager and ruin his life. To further establishe the film’s desire to portray Cristi’s mundane assignment, we are shown images of Cristi’s reports that explains the scene we just saw with slightly more detail (such as how many hours he spent standing outside the suspects house). While they can be interesting because they are from the scene we just witnessed, it becomes quite old rather quickly.
My favourite parts of this film were easily Cristi’s interactions with his wife and the discussions with his coworkers. They were usually focused on the meaning of words, their spellings, and why Romanian linguistic authorities are changing them. I can easily understand why the analysis of words may not appeal to everyone’s tastes, but it’s how the film presents these discussions is what made it entertaining and, oftentimes, hilarious - such as Cristi’s police chief’s passionate quest to define ‘conscious’ when Cristi explains his reluctance to arrest the suspect.
Overall I did enjoy the film, despite its repetitive nature. I would not be inclined to discourage people from seeing the film, but instead warn them about how the film presents police work, as well as the cultural jokes that people will find more entertaining with prior knowledge of the countries history.
SHARP OBJEX Rating: 2.5 out of 4
Reader Comments (3)
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