A Hi Film Prods. (Romania)/Circe Films (Netherlands) production, in association with CNC Romania, TVR, with the support of Hubert Bals Fund, Media Program of EU, NHK/Sundance Award, with the participation of HBO Romania. (International sales: Films Boutique, Berlin.) Produced by Ada Solomon. Co-producer, Stienette Bosklopper. Directed by Radu Jude. Screenplay, Jude, Augustina Stanciu.
With: Vasile Muraru, Andreea Bosneag, Violeta Haret Popa, Serban Pavlu, Andi Vasluianu, Diana Gheorghian, Alexandru Georgescu.
After winning a free car in an advertising promotion, a poor provincial teen finds it comes with a hefty emotional pricetag in the ironically titled tragicomedy "The Happiest Girl in the World." Like the work of compatriot Corneliu Porumboiu ("12:08 East of Bucharest"), this wryly humorous feature debut by director Radu Jude ("The Tube With a Hat," the most-awarded Romanian short ever) is hyperrealist in style, with a sharply observed script. Although the film boasts some terrific dialogue and pitch-perfect performances, its structural issues might stymie offshore arthouse potential. Fests will beckon regardless.
Driven to Bucharest by her bossy parents so she can participate in a beverage commercial and claim her prize, meek high school student Delia (Andreea Bosneag) has hazy dreams of the future as a coed with her own car. Meanwhile, her mom (Violeta Haret Popa) and dad (Vasile Muraru) resort to emotional blackmail when daughter doesn't fall in line with their more concrete plans for the expensive auto.
With the action unfolding over the course of one long, hot summer day, helmer Jude allows multiple takes of the commercial being shot to dominate the pic's second half, slowing the pace and sapping viewer interest. As the client demands the unreasonable, the crew bickers and horses around, and audiences feel as put upon as the increasingly sullen Delia.
Nevertheless, patient viewers will appreciate the clever way Jude employs contrast throughout to convey a myriad of things about contemporary Romania. Confidently, without making moral judgments, he uses the different experiences and expectations of the generations and the disparity between big-city sophistication and small-town parochialism to nail the ambience of a country where the communist past and capitalist present uneasily co-exist.
From leads to bit parts, performers come up aces. Nonpro Bosneag aptly communicates the feelings of a naive teen afraid to hold her ground against her elders until the end, while experienced comic actors Haret Popa and Muraru expertly turn the parental screws.
Ably supported by a lively ambient noise soundtrack, d.p. Marius Panduru's gritty, long take lensing makes the most of locations from Bucharest's heavily trafficked University Square to more cramped quarters inside a car, gas station toilet and makeup trailer. Spot-on costumes and hair craft contributions imply reams of character info.
Camera (color, DV-to-35mm), Marius Panduru; editor, Catalin F. Cristutiu; production designer/costume designer, Stanciu; sound (Dolby Digital), Titi Fleancu; associate producer, Dragos Vilcu. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (Forum), Feb. 6, 2009. Running time: 100 MIN.
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