POLICE, ADJECTIVE (POLITIST, ADJECTIV) New Lights

After researching the subject of POLICE, ADJECTIVE – which begins with the depiction of a cop on the beat and and ends with a comic inquiry into the meaning of the word “conscience” – filmmaker Corneliu Porimboiu (12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST, AF/ FEST 2006) realized “that the truth of my character lies in the small things, in his daily routine and in a certain time of being and reacting. I think that this is what cinema makes fresh: a time of being.” The policeman at the heart of Porimboiu’s absurdist inquiry is Cristi (the brilliant Dragos Bucur), assigned to toil a high school kid suspected of drug dealing Cristi, like the film audience waits and watches as this stunning film builds toward an unforgettable face-off between Cristi and his boss (the inimitable Vlad Ivanov) that forces everyone on screen and off to consider the meaning of what one sees and the words one uses.