With Miracol, Romanian filmmaker Bogdan George Apetri breathes new life into the Romanian New Wave.
Directed by: Bogdan George Apetri
Year: 2021
Country: Romania, Czech Republic, Latvia
Length: 118 minutes
Miracol follows Cristina Tofan (Iona Bugarin), a nineteen-year-old dedicated nun in training, who lives in a convent. Cristina has to make a trip to the doctor’s office, after experiencing headaches for a while. She’s picked up outside of the covent by a taxi driver, who happens to be the brother of one of the other nuns. On the way, they pick up a doctor, who expresses his annoyance with Iona’s faith. From here on, in an unsettling 50 minutes, the protagonist must try to navigate as a young religious woman in a world of violent men.
The first half of the film plays like a religious social coming-of-age drama, following the young woman, who’s navigating through an environment that doesn’t accept her. Whenever she encounters someone new, there seems to be a kind of danger creeping up on her. A series of minor twists tell us that not everything that we hear might be the truth, which introduces an element of mystery to the story; one that expands itself, the more the story progresses.
A shattering event takes the viewer into the second half of the film, one that’s vastly different from what’s presented in the first half, but is connected through a smooth, seamless transition. Apetri manages to create two films for the price of just one, by letting the social drama carefully progress into a contemplative crime mystery. The second half of the film centers on a cop named Marius Preda (played by Emanuel Pârvu), as he tries to solve his latest case.
With the character of Cristina (in an impressively stoic performance by Bugarin) almost being depicted as a Bressonian character à la Mouchette, being subjected to violence and misfortune, Apetri creates a very brutal film. What’s commendable about his vision, is that he’s not necessarily interested shoving the imagery in the viewer’s face, nor does he try to sensationalize these acts. Instead, the most violent act in the film is deliberately hidden within its setting, with the camera turning away in one of the impressive 360° pan shots of the film, as the idea of the violence and the background noises are agonizing enough.
As usual with Romanian New Wave cinema, Miracol is slow-paced, centered on a screenplay full of subtleties and filled with long takes of social realism. Had it not been for Apetri’s unique approach in both the directing and writing seat, this is a film that could’ve easily been written off as ‘too slow’ and ‘boring’. What makes Miracol stand out is the way it keeps dropping hints at its audience, slowly revealing more and more about its plot and characters, coincidentally confusing and making one wonder whether they’ve paid enough attention. The viewer watches Miracol on the edge of their seat, without even knowing, at times. The longer one watches Miracol, the more they will realize how invested they are.
Miracol premiered at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti selection.
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