There Will Be Ick.
Cornelia (Luminita Gheorghiu) is a wealthy woman who loves her son. Really loves him. As in rubs his bruised back with ointment and a rubber glove for longer than is an appropriate amount of time. Yeah, she loves him THAT much.
Cornelia’s world of fine dinners, recitals and generally being overbearing in peoples lives is tested when her son Barbu (Bogdan Dumitrache) is involved in a collision. A group of teenagers die and the blame is pointed at Barbu. Cornelia springs into action using her local power and influence to exact her control over the case and keep her son out of jail. We see Cornelia’s influence over all people in her life as she manipulates at will, changing her temperament and approach to deal with each situation. Ultimately we see the power she continues to exude over Bardu, a man who is frustrated by his over-bearing mother but still acts like a petulant teenager because of her mothering.
Having heard good things about Child’s Pose I was looking forward to it. Word of a sparse, slightly twisted drama with award nagging performances sounded an intriguing proposition, not unlike something Michael Haneke would put his lens too. In the end the film left me as cold as Cornelia’s view of the world. Shot with a voyeurs eye, the camera sits in odd corners of rooms, wobbling. The camera feels it has been placed where it has due to logistics rather than setting up the best possible shot. Director and co-writer Calin Peter Netzer should be applauded for making a film that feels so much like non-fiction, along with the camera there is little in the way of music and the dialogue flows. It should be noted that the actors all turn in wonderful performances. Buzz about Luminita’s chilling portrayal isn’t wrong. Her ultimate goal of keeping her son from jail shows her twisted love. Is it for him or for her that he stays out of prison? Her manipulation of the bereaved families disturbing. Bogdam too is the embodiment of frustration. For the most part he is a spoiled brat of a man, having never heard the word ‘no’ from his mother he struggles to cope with the idea that he may be locked away against his will. What ultimately left me cold to the films efforts was that I didn’t particularly care about anything that was going on. On this occasion I know that is me, not them. Everything’s there to enjoy a good film but as much as I tried I really couldn’t give a damn about anything I was seeing on screen.
Perhaps it was the characters. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood to spend my time with annoying people winging and weaseling their way out of responsibility. Maybe it was one of those times where I couldn’t enjoy observing the characters as presented and suddenly felt indignant about their lives so my brain switched off. All I know is that at the half way point I became disinterested and as it finished my first thought was “good now I can get a sandwich”. Has anyone else felt completely detached from this film? Or should I come back to it with an open mind and a heart bursting with love?
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Mario Bezbradica 14th November 2013
Yes, I completely agree with you. I watched the film yesterday and I went to see it because I am keen on European cinema and because it won a prize at Berlin Film Festival. I felt just as you put it, became disintrerested in the film after the first half, couldn’t take any more the close-ups. All of the time the faces covering the whole screen, and sometimes the half of the faces, too close for me. The drama doesn’t reach the spectator or even the scenography or the costumes. Everything seems ready-made for a premeditated successful film although the outcome is poor. However, the performance of the leading actress is applaudable and she made me stay in the cinema and endure it to the end.