Mainlining Christmas

Well, I've got a new favorite Romanian Christmas movie. And before you roll your eyes, let me remind you that actually means something  - for whatever reason the nation has produced some extremely good holiday films. I've got no idea what else exists that hasn't gotten attention over here, of course, but the three that made their way to the States all packed a punch. Also, all three have featured faltering romantic partnerships as plot elements - no idea what's up with that trend, either. That's about where comparisons end between R.M.N. and the other two, however. Actually, comparisons should probably end a bit earlier, as even that's a tenuous connection: the male lead in R.M.N. has a very different relationship with both his wife and mistress than those presented in the films I linked to. Before we get into the actual story, I do want to caution this is a movie best experienced spoiler-free, and - in case that whole "new favorite Romanian Christmas movi...

I'm not going to go in depth into the intricacies of the Romanian New Wave movement, mainly because I know absolutely nothing about the Romanian New Wave movement, aside from what I can glean from Wikipedia. The short version seems to be a focus on realism and grounded storytelling - those are certainly qualities on display in "A Month in Thailand," a film which is set neither in Thailand, nor over the span of a month. Instead, the movie takes place over approximately 24 hours starting on the morning of New Year's Eve. The title refers to a theoretical vacation the movie's main character wants to go on with a girlfriend that also serves as a sort of stand-in for the kind of person he aspires to be and the sort of relationship he wants to be in. By design, the plot here is fairly sparse. The movie opens with the main character, Radu, in a relationship with Adina. It's clear early on that Radu isn't completely satisfied, but things really take a turn after t...

This is the second Romanian New Wave Christmas movie I've seen, though there's a good chance we'll run the review for this one first. Given you can strike the word, "Christmas," from the previous sentence and still have it be accurate, it should be noted I'm a novice to the genre. On top of that, anything I have to say about this should be filtered through the understanding I'm an American watching the film with subtitles and am therefore likely to miss nuances and subtext the intended audience would be expected to pick up on. But that's the case with virtually any translated work I review here. "Tuesday, After Christmas" is centered on Paul, a middle-aged man with a wife and child having an affair with a younger woman, who's also his daughter's dentist. The movie plays out over a few days leading up to Christmas. By then, he's confessed the affair to his wife, who throws him out. The movie concludes with them meeting up at Paul...