Movie Review: Police, Adjective

Police, Adjective

Written and Directed By: Corneliu Porumboi

Starring: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu, and Ion Stoica

Director of Photography: Marius Panduru, Production Designer: Mihaela Poenaru

Rated: Not Rated

    Police, Adjective starts with a tailing. Cristi, a police officer played by Dragos Bucur, follows a high school kid before and after school. We follow each step Cristi makes, we wait as he waits, and we get a sense of the ridiculous amount of time he must follows this kid must take. And we ask, for what purpose?

    In the latest film from Corneliu Porumboi, one of the many masterful directors to emerge out of Romania in the last few years, Mr. Porumboi asks us to take on what might seem like the worst police case, as well as police movie, ever thought of. But behind the drawn out scenes, and sometimes brilliant and dark humor, is a story of a totalitarian state in crisis, one on the border of resistance and complacency.
    As mentioned before, Police, Adjective is actually a comedy more than a serious drama. It’s a comedy of words and the deadpan satire comes from the absurdity of the case. Cristi is told to follow what is supposed to be a big drug dealer, who simply gives marijuana to a couple of his friends. Cristi wants to drop the case, but his boss, played with strikingly great humor by Vlad Ivanov, tells him no. There are rules in Romania—we don’t let drug dealers go.
    The film comes to climax when Mr. Ivanov’s character forces Cristi to read the dictionary. If that sounds like the most boring thing ever, Mr. Porumboi’s script is filled with smart humor and chilling sounds that recall the previous era of the country, and Mr. Ivanov, like his character in 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, is so good as being a strong figure of authority by saying as little as possible, and here with a clever with, that the climax is the film’s highlight. While Police, Adjective is set after the fall of the wall and in current day, a sense of dread that an outside power still has control of the country remains.

    Yes, Police, Adjective is one of those films that only really plays to a select audience. The film’s decrepit pace and deadpan humor is easily frustrating, and audiences without patience will be rushing out of the aisle. However, those who do stick with it, will find a certain subtlety to Mr. Porumboi’s work, a craft that is unmatched in its striking themes that are hidden under the surface. Little happens in Police, Adjective, but great forces are clashing just underneath the surface.