2013 ‘Poziţia copilului’ Directed by Călin Peter Netzer
Child's Pose is a contemporary drama focusing on the relationship between a mother and her 32-year-old son. After the accidental killing of a boy in a car crash, the mother tries to prevent her son being charged for the death, and she refuses to accept that her son is a grown-up man.
La mirada del hijo, Mère et fils, 愛的佔有慾
Director Călin Peter Netzer's third film follows Cornelia (Luminița Gheorghiu), a well-connected, upper middle class mother who tries to keep her distant son Barbu (Bogdan Dumitrache) away from jail by all means necessary after he killed a child in a car accident. At least that's the plot at the surface. What this movie really is about, as the proceedings take a back seat, is Cornelia's attempt to reconnect with Barbu after their relationship has gone sour for reasons left unclear. Reunited by a catastrophe, a life-changing experience to say the least, they both go through a defining moment in their lives that could shake their foundations.
After strong performances in supporting roles for films like The Death of Mr. Lazarescu…
Romanian filmmaker Călin Peter Netzer shoots straight at the heart of a mother and son relationship that blurs the line between maternal love and a destructive maelstrom of over-protection. Luminita Gheorghiu (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Beyond the Hills) is astonishing in a monstrous matriarchal performance where her bourgeois entitlement will allow her to stop at nothing to try and protect her son after he kills a teenage boy crossing a highway as he is driving at high speed to overtake another vehicle. Bribery, lies and manipulation of apathetic law enforcers are all on the cards as Cornelia takes charge of the situation, at the behest of her son who is trying to…
Of all the film festivals that litter the world, the Berlinale is the one that piques my imagination most acutely. More than Cannes or Sundance, Berlin's festival, with its predilection for taut, grounded dramas, tugs at me for my attendance. It doesn't hurt that I love the city as well.
Catching this year's Golden Bear winner, Călin Peter Netzer's Child's Pose (Pozitia copilului), took a bit of schedule shuffling but I made it a priority to give it a slot where I would be sure to catch it in the state of utmost alertness. It turned out to be a good move. I was blown away. For me, Child's Pose is the stand out film of this year's MIFF.
In…
Luminita Gheorghiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) delivers a heartfelt and thoroughly convincing performance worthy of Oscar consideration next year, in Romania's submission for the foreign language award. Now of course, much like Emmanuelle Riva in last years Amour that reality is considerably distant. The least to be hoped for is to elevate the status of the film for others to take notice.
Set amongst the Romanian upper class, Child's Pose is a raw portrayal of the mother/son dynamic. Of overbearing maternal love that ultimately creates the reverse effect. We meet Cornelia (Gheorghiu) sitting with her friend Olga, criticising her son's partner Carmen for causing the divide between the two. Barbu is a 30-year old man who has…
Part of my Iron Curtain/Eastern Bloc Challenge (Romania)
This Romanian drama film directed by Călin Peter Netzer was the country's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. It was directed by Călin Peter Netzer and first screened in Germany at the Berlin International Film Festival, and later debuted in North America in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the Toronto International Film Festival.
In Bucharest, 60-ish architect Cornelia Keneres (Luminita Gheorghiu) complains to her sister-in-law Dr. Olga "Guta" Cerchez (Natasa Raab) about the behavior of her adult son Barbu (Bogdan Dumitrache). She says he is completely under the thumb of his slacker girlfriend, a single mother named Carmen (Ilinca Goia), who has…
As all good dramas should, Child's Pose manages to unearth a great deal of universal truth in its own distinct manner. Here, the film concerns the psychosis of a mother-son relationship, in all its dimensions.
Gheorghiu here gives a rather stunning performance, it's a marvelous case study of a mother, in all her imperfections, protectiveness and heartbreak. This is the type of protective mother who, when learning her son has accidentally killed a stranger's son, just doesn't get it. She doesn't get it until the final scene, and that is what the plot development is all about. For a mother who spends practically the entire film trying to protect her son from the ramifications of this act, she doesn't seem…
Excellent drama from Romania. A story that happens in every society. A rich woman does everything in her power to get her grown ass 32 year old son out of trouble after a deadly accident. Throwing money, connections and social status around to make it all go away. She then starts to see the problem might be her son and her overprotective ways. Fascinating and uncomfortable as hell. Infuriating even! Acted, written and directed to perfection in my opinion. It's on Netflix. Check it out.
2013's Golden Bear, if i tried any harder to love it Herzog would have to make a doc about me. but eh, it's too loose.
slack romanian drama suggests (with earned sincerity) that simple compassion can heal wounds and ameliorate class warfare. romanian edie falco's lead performance is strong but the script often leaves her hanging as the character slowly pulls her head out of her ass.
Esta película es otro de esos ejemplos perfectos de justamente lo que en encanta de la nueva ola de cine rumano; estilo minimalista, cámaras en mano, puesta en escena austera y largas tomas que jamás dejan a los personajes escapar de la narrativa. La película en su, pues me ha parecido fantastica. Una visión descarnada y sin medias tintas de un país por momentos en descomposición social, donde la sociedad (personajes) no son buenos ni malos, simplemente se comportan en virtud a la suerte que les ha tocado en un sistema podrido.
Por cierto, en una escena aparece Vlad Ivanov y casi se roba la película como de costumbre.
51/100
A.V. Club review. Formally inept and dramatically muddy, with the former problem (exemplified by random handheld pans from one profile to another) seemingly exacerbated by the latter, which intensifies in the second half. At the midpoint, I was wishing for the film to become something more than just a cynical portrait of wealthy entitlement; when it does, though, I'm damned if I can fathom what it metamorphoses into. The ending, in particular, is superficially powerful—it mimics the structural grammar of first-rate art cinema perfectly—but doesn't seem in any sense a culmination. A bit maddening. And as usual, when Vlad Ivanov showed up I suddenly wanted the entire movie to be about his character. Best scene stealer in Europe.
On paper, the story might sound thin, but Calin Peter Netzer's 2013 Golden Bear-winning film provides a more complex piece of drama surrounding a car accident and the ferocity of a mother's love. Despite the film's shortcomings, the real achievement here is Luminita Gheorghiu. She gives a riveting performance as Cornelia, the maternal monster who literally pushes the envelope for the sake of his son. The last scene, which is the most riveting part of the film, certainly fits to encapsulate this dark, troubling Romanian drama.
For work.
A quiet, well-made Romanian drama that doesn't have enough meat on its bones to earn its emotional resolution, but is still noteworthy for Luminița Gheorghiu's remarkable performance.
Romanian New Wave film about an upper class mother who works to fix her relationship with her adult son, even through he persists on being a total piece of shit at every turn.
He’s weak, rude, ungrateful, and totally incapable of personal responsibility, and she’s unsure of how much of those qualities she’s responsible for. When he gets into a fatal car accident and kills a young lower class child, she springs into action to try and protect her son.
The film really hinges on making you hate the son character and feel bad for the mother as she refuses to let go even after life keeps hurling obstacles and rejection at her. She won’t give up even after the…
filmdeki kaza konusu ve içinde erdoğan geçmesi haliyle bir şeyler çağrıştırıyor insana.....yönetmenin tc'den arkadaşı mı var acaba
Durch die großartige Kameraarbeit wird der #Berlinale-Gewinner MUTTER UND SOHN zu einem cineastischen Strudel mit famosen Schauspielern!
Calin Peter Netzer's creation is an underrated drama of social inequality that follows a mother's efforts to free her son from prison. The title is very suggestive and reflects the importance of Cornelia's son, but also of the killed child - who in the end become equal. But the characters go through a tragic episode to understand the seriousness of the accident. There is also a toxic relationship between mother and son, which still comes with a solution until the end; whether it improves or not, we cannot know; but what we do know is that once Barbu apologizes, a healing process follows. I appreciated that the whole film was composed only of the intermediate part of such a situation: there is no accident, no trial, no outcome; in fact, one only wants to be aware of wrongdoing, not by law, but by compassion.
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