Rating:  

Starring: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saluescu, Ion Stoica, Marian Ghenea, Cosmin Selesi, George Remes, Alexandru Sabadac, Anca Diaconu, Radu Costin.
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Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 114 Mins.
Release Date: December 23, 2009
Home Video Date: August 30, 2011
Netflix and Digital Streaming: October 12, 2010
Box Office: $53 Thousand
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42 Km Films, Periscop Film, Racova, Raza Studio, HBO, and IFC Films.

Written by: Corneliu Porumboiu.

The winner of two prizes at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and Romania’s entry for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, “Police, Adjective” is a curiously titled and rather fascinating entry in the new wave of Romanian cinema that is becoming increasingly more influential film by film. 

Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, who received a fair amount of stateside attention for his 2006 film, “12:08 East Of Bucharest”, “Police, Adjective” is a minimal and quiet film told with a measured and hushed tone, stripping away all the pretense of police procedural dramas made for a wider audience consumption.

Cristi (Dragos Bucur) is a police officer assigned to follow Alex (Alexandru Sabadac), a local 16-year old boy suspected of supplying hashish to his friends and perhaps others in the community. Oblivious to the investigation, Alex is often seen with a boy and a girl, who may or may not be his girlfriend. For Cristi, the investigation consists of little more than walking and watching – his stakeouts those of observance and not surveillance. Cristi gets what little information he needs by walking around the communities Alex does, and then returning to the office and writing reports to his superior which are largely repetitive in nature.

Cristi could quite easily walk up to the threesome and arrest all involved but something keeps him at a distance, as an observer. Cristi sees the crime as one of youthful indiscretion and questions the nature of arresting Alex for smoking pot. At one point, Cristi questions whether it is wise to take a kid who is not a troublemaker, has no criminal history, and put him away for 8-15 years for something that Cristi categorizes as just kids doing what he kind of thinks all kids do.

At times, “Police, Adjective” becomes quite compelling theater, as I started to inventory my beliefs alongside American drug policy and what I believe Corneliu Porumboiu is analyzing within his home country. Porumboiu is not making the assertion that 16-year olds should be free to smoke and distribute drugs, but he is calling into question whether the Romanian police force would not be better served to focus their attentions elsewhere; an argument which permeates the drug law debates existing in this country as well.

As fascinating and engrossing as parts of the film are, it must be mentioned that for a 114 minute film, there are long and extended stretches of time where very little happens. Porumboiu positions the camera as an observer, as detached as Cristi is from Alex, but the desired effect is not always a rewarding one. Honestly, with some of the long stretches of nothingness in the middle, I left the film and struggled to maintain my focus. That bothered me frankly, because as soon as something began to happen, “Police, Adjective” had me right back in and engaged. Despite my open-mindedness when it comes to film viewing, perhaps “Police, Adjective” taught me that in a “CSI:Anywhere” world of police procedural dramas, I have to have something happening constantly to even care about the work police officers and investigators do every day. I should know better, but there I was at times begging for something to happen. Something. Anything.

And eventually a stunning 8 or 9 minute knockout of a scene occurs between Cristi and Captain Anghelache (Vlad Ivanov), the police chief assessing Cristi’s work and carrying final say in whether or not an arrest is made on Alex. Like much of the film, Porumboiu frames the scene in a static shot, but the explosive fireworks that emanate from simple wordplay is riveting. Cristi offers his viewpoints, the Captain shares his, and a dictionary comes into play which punctuates the dichotomy that exists between common sense, fairness, morality, and the law. In a film without one scene of violence, one shootout, one crime scene, or one sex scene, for a lot of potential viewers, this will be a waste of time for people accustomed to all of these ingredients existing in their favorite police series. For those who hang with the film and can stick with its minimalist approach, this scene will pay off huge rewards and elevates the film to something quite memorable and fascinating.

“Police, Adjective” is another intricately plotted narrative from a new guard of Romanian filmmakers who are setting out to make bold political statements in a very precise and thought-provoking manner. Far be it from me to claim to be an expert on the agenda that Porumboiu is reaching for with his film, but acknowledging the challenges it presents from being frustratingly stoic at times, I appreciate the thought-provoking essay on not only Romanian police procedure and drug laws, but the unspoken conflict officers must struggle with when balancing their personal beliefs with the letter of the law.

And while I confess that part of me kept hoping for more tangible action and activity a lot of the time, I can also greatly admire the fact that Porumboiu made me think about another thing I had never truthfully given much thought to – that intersecting of personal convictions and morality that every police officer in every part of the globe must deal with day-in and day-out.

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Fans of Romanian cinema and the new political slanted films making their way stateside, will be interested in seeing this, especially if they are familiar with Corneliu Poromboiu’s previous film.

That scene. Arriving late in the film and lasting 8-9 minutes, the exchange between officer and supervisor is quite fascinating. Some may be frustrated that the film saves its fireworks for one scene so late in the film, but it is a sight to behold.

You are tired of all the carbon copy police dramas on TV and the big screen and what something different. And you don’t mind subtitles.

NO

I know a large number of people who will watch 10, maybe 20 minutes of this and stop it because there is nothing at all happening and think I have gone off the deep end. Long stretches of the film are quiet, with extended static shots of Cristi observing Alex and his pals, writing out reports, and having a seemingly random argument about a pop song with his wife. Corneliu Poromboiu attempts to paint a realism to Cristi’s life and the work of police in general may lead eyes to close, pillows to become warm, DVD’s to be returned in red envelopes, or the stop button hit on the Netflix stream. Well, I warned you. This is about as far removed from an American police drama as you can ever get.

You find foreign films annoying because you have to read.