A fost sau n-a fost (12:08 East Of Bucharest)

Corneliu Porumboiu - 2006
'Politist, Adjectiv' is for me one of the best films of the last few years; this is nearly as good.
It opens with long scenes with a still camera. The light is like, well, late Godard, Tarr, a lot of people; dark inside, with outside overexposure peaking out. Can just having a big contrast, big difference between the lightest and darkest patches, make a fine image?
Whne we get to the TV station, we have what I loved about 'Politist, Adjectiv'; the idea of interrogation. Logic being used to generally try to get to the truth (I dont really buy the relativism). The necessity to get the facts, to pierce further in, to realise the true complexities of reality. What we find may not be to our liking, in fact, here and in 'Politist..' it is directly contrary to what I wanted. Yet there is always a sense of admiration for the process, of its greater importance; that is detail. The hymnotic search. The camera, and there are some funny self-reflexive lines about it, messes its focus and clumsily makes little moves.
We began with a deeply beautiful blue of the city, and such images return at the wonderful conclusion of this film. They are overlaid by the director's straight voiceover, earned so many times over (why would it need to be earned anyway?). The idea; stepping in front of the camera, dictating, leads to lies. Truth in observance, cine-truth by questions, not forcing.
The lights motif, and the city of this film and its end, is clearly deeply Antonioni influenced ('L'Eclisse', that means for me right now). The lights on and off in the empty streets, together and following each other. Porumboiu is personal, speaks, personal in that we discover with him what is outside of him; discover beauty, the world, whatever that is. He's going to make masterpieces; he's already made two great to ver good films.