A runaway gypsy slave in early 19th-century Wallachia is hunted down by a constable and his son in Radu Jude's most accomplished and original feature yet, "Aferim!" In his two previous films, Jude's leitmotif was people's inhumanity to one another, full of power games and humiliations. Here he stays true to the theme, using this black-and-white oater to trace the roots of Romanian society's less positive characteristics. While its tone is occasionally overly strident, "Aferim!" is an exceptional, deeply intelligent gaze into a key historical period, done with wit as well as anger.
"Aferim!" is an Ottoman Turkish expression meaning "bravo!," a word used with deep irony in the film but one that can equally be directed, without any irony, at the director. A great deal of the freshness lies in the way Jude dispenses with traditional historical-film trappings even while cleaving to the classic structure of fugitive-hunting Westerns.There's nothing staid or prettified here, and while a significant amount of background research is on show, the helmer uses it to re-create an atmosphere rather than a specific, sacrosanct event.
"Aferim!" is an Ottoman Turkish expression meaning "bravo!," a word used with deep irony in the film but one that can equally be directed, without any irony, at the director. A great deal of the freshness lies in the way Jude dispenses with traditional historical-film trappings even while cleaving to the classic structure of fugitive-hunting Westerns.There's nothing staid or prettified here, and while a significant amount of background research is on show, the helmer uses it to re-create an atmosphere rather than a specific, sacrosanct event.