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10 Nov 26
Director Release Date |
Starring SEBASTIAN STAN, RENATE REINSVE |
Certificate Running Time |
A major contender in the upcoming awards season, Fjord has already been awarded the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, putting director Cristian Mungiu in a rarefied category of filmmakers who have claimed this prestigious prize twice (his first came almost two decades ago, for his searing drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days).
Fjord is every bit the equal of that earlier masterpiece. A high-stakes drama set in a beautiful part of rural Norway, the story follows Romanian software engineer Mihai Gheorghiu (Sebastian Stan) and his Norwegian wife, Lisbet (Renate Reinsve), who together have relocated from Romania to settle in this breath-taking part of the country, the very town Lisbet hails from.
Mihai and Lisbet raise their five kids according to their strict evangelical Christian values, with a daily prayers and Bible readings. Things change, however, when a teacher at school notices marks on the arm of their daughter, Elia (Vanessa Ceban), leading to her and her brother, Emmanuel (Jonathan Ciprian Breazu), admitting that their father occasionally disciplines them.
This sets in motion a chain of events that brings Mihai into conflict with the Norwegian authorities and the result is a real water-cooler movie, one you'll want to debate with your friends and family in the Picturehouse cafés and bars for hours after it concludes. It predominantly plays out in English and is the most The film reunites Stan and Reinsve, who were so good together in surreal meta-drama A Different Man, and Fjord benefits hugely from their similarly daring natures. Notably, Stan is like you've never seen him before, with bald head and glasses. More than that, as he revisits his Romanian roots, the star gets to explore a character and edgy material in a way Hollywood has rarely allowed him. emotionally gripping of Mungiu's six films to date, with a cast you'll probably love to bits already.
Interwoven in exhilarating fashion, the third section, in 2017, focuses on gay academic Alberto (Carlos González), left to ponder unexpected familial revelations that send him snaking back into the past, and to the 1930s stories just described. It's a deft and fluid structure all right, confidently executed to create a profound tapestry-like exploration of memory, loss, identity and gay rights.
Likewise, Reinsve continues to build a reputation, after The Worst Person In The World and Sentimental Value, as one of world cinema's most beguiling actresses. Like Stan, she's almost unrecognisable as a quiet, but fiercely committed, mother as her husband gets drawn into a battle with the local community and beyond.
As for Mungiu, taking the temperature of not just Norway but of Europe and even the world right now, he has crafted one of the most incisive, electrifying films of the year.
James Mottram
TÁR2022
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Anatomy Of A Fall2023
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Sentimental Value2025
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