Film review: 'Graduation'

"Graduation" suggests that Romania is not the most desirable place in which to reside. Principles are compromised and corruption runs rampant within the government. This is what writer-director Cristian Mungiu would have us believe in a story about a father wanting the best possible for his daughter, at any cost.

Adrian Titieni plays Romeo, a respectable doctor, husband and father who's determined to see his daughter, Eliza (Maria-Victoira Dragus) live and study abroad. A scholarship at Cambridge in the UK awaits her pending the results of her final exams. On the eve of her tests, Eliza is assaulted, and her test results fall short of previous expectations. Romeo decides to pull some strings high up in order to assure she makes the grade.

But all does not go a planned. Romeo must make Eliza complicit in the scheme which only adds to her pain and confusion. In his renouncement of the principals that he spent years instilling upon his daughter, Romeo sacrifices Eliza's respect for him. In an attempt to place blame elsewhere, he casts it on the Romanian society. But it falls on deaf ears.

Mungiu received a best director award at Cannes in 2016 for "Graduation." His camerawork in the film is impeccable, and Titieni inhabits every frame. It's a wise move in that the audience can detect each and every nuance of his character's transition from respectability to becoming part of the system he despises. But "Graduation" lacks any edginess it might have generated. When rocks are thrown into his apartment and car windows, Romeo simply shrugs it off. Why?

Although the acting is superb in this methodically paced character study, unattended to, disturbing goings-on are left a mystery. The direction that "Graduation" chooses to take is one emphasizing the bleakness of a country and the effect it has on its citizens. Possibly, it might have been more engaging had it explored some sparks smoldering just beneath the surface. It may have ignited some passion.