Poppy Field (2020)
8/10
I ♥ Romanian cinema
11 August 2021
Great portrayal of a day and a night in the life of Cristi, a gendarme of Bucharest. The acting of the main actor Conrad Mericoffer, as well as that of the other policemen is one of truly high quality. On the contrary, except for the scene with the sister, I did not appreciate particularly Radouan Leflahi's (Hadi) performance, although the dialogues were written with accuracy, especially in their attempt to reproduce the silly "empty" talk of two lovers (coming from different countries).

The first part is to be appreciated also for the way in which the contrast between the two different mindsets of the protagonists are described. On the one hand Hadi, who quite naively fails to understand the complexity of the world Cristi lives in, and, on the other hand, Cristi, who shows a maybe too cautious attitude towards life, discretion and circumspection being his mottos.

The second part of the movie is absolutely worth watching: the anxiety Cristi feels while being kept out from the discussion going on outside the film theatre is conveyed through some quite long takes, during which Cristi's emotions hit him like waves, alternatively calming down and taking over again. The - partially unjustified - terror of losing his place in his comfort zone leads Cristi to commit an act of violence, the consequences of which will be dealt with by the fellow gendarmes with typical mafiaesque methods.

Much worthier watching than the (only superficially) German equivalent "Freier Fall".
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