Cristian
Mungiu’s follow up to his masterful abortion drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2
Days” has been cheekily referred to as his “lesbian nun” film, but “Beyond The
Hills” is nothing so exlpoitational as that description makes it sound. Instead we get a beautiful story about friendship
between two girls who once grew up in an orphanage together.
At the
start of “Beyond The Hills” we are witness to Alina returning from Germany to
Romania to see her friend Voichita and hopefully bring her back home with
her. It is obvious that the girls have
been more than just friends in the past, but since Alina left for Germany,
Voichita has made some big changes in her life.
The biggest thing in Voichita’s life is her devotion to God and her
religious beliefs, as she is now a nun living in a monastery high on top of a
hill looking at the town below. The
distance between the town and the monastery is significant because it is almost
as though the nuns are living in a different time period with the monastery
having no electricity or running water.
Alina cannot believe the change in Voichita and her devotion to God and
sees it as nothing more than brainwashing from a dangerous cult. Alina herself has no faith, so cannot
understand Voichita’s passion and it isn’t long until Alina basically declares
war on God for the love of this girl.
Alina’s presence causes distraction amongst the monetary and its daily
chores, and when her behavior continues to get more erratic and dangerous, the
Priest decides to do the unthinkable, to perform a modern day exorcism on the girl,
to rid her of the demons obviously inside her.
This is
a beautiful and sensitive portrayal of a religious world and an outsider who
does not understand it. One of the
biggest strengths of “Beyond The Hills” is that it creates a world full of
grays, no one is demonized (pardon the pun), rather both sides are explored
thoughtfully and intelligently as Voichita struggles with her faith in the face
of her friend’s obvious pain. It ends up
being a thoughtful discussion on faith and the consequences the church must
face when someone gets hurt by their actions even though they did what they did
with the best of intentions consistent to their faith. However did they have any right to perform
such duties on a person who does not share the same faith as them? It is interesting to witness Alina give up
her worldly possessions to love Voichita the same way Voichita has given everything
up for God. In essence Alina worships
Voichita and the love they once shared, but Voichita finds her love
suffocating. When it gets to the point
that the Priest gives Voichita an ultimatum, due to Alina’s increasingly
violent distractions, she must struggle with her faith and protecting someone
she loves.
“Beyond
The Hills” picked up two awards at the recent Cannes Film Festival. The first among them was for Best Actress
which Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur shared for their portrayals of
Voichita and Alina respectively. Flutur
has the more showy role, with a lot of externally projected emotions, but it
was Stratan’s quiet and introspective performance that really impressed
me. She is restrained throughout, quietly
keeping her emotions to herself as she tries to remain true to her faith. Voichita is the character you respond to most
as she is at a center of a vicious and emotional tug of war. At the same time she remains respectful of
everybody to the point that it causes her severe inner turmoil. Stratan was amazing and she reminded me a lot
of a young Audrey Hepburn. The other
award that was won was for Best Screenplay which is also well deserved as this
is complex and layered script, full of deep emotions and theological
discussions about faith versus reason.
Tension is built as it goes along until the shocking finale.
Directorially,
Cristian Mungiu has excelled again, pacing the film perfectly and evenly. He never over sensationalizes moments even
when they could be considered extreme rather he prefers to keep a level of
authenticity over the whole project. His
building of relationships is fantastic, especially between the two girls, and
the tension and suspense he creates at the end is supreme. His greatest asset though is his keen eye for
composition. His images are exquisite,
though never flashy, and his is assisted brilliantly by his cinematographer
Oleg Mutu who also shot Mungiu’s previous film.
Overall,
I found “Beyond The Hills” to be a beautifully austere piece of work and
further validation of Munigiu’s talent behind the camera, both with his writing
and directing. The film has two stunning
lead performances, especially from young Cosmina Stratan who I predict will be
a big star in the future on the basis of this performance. The slow pace, long running time and complex
themes of religion and faith means that this film may not be for everyone, but
this is smart filmmaking that deserves to be seen.
3.5 Stars.
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