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Aurora

Switzerland, Germany, France, Romania

2010

179 Min
Color
2.35:1
Romanian
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
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DIR Cristi Puiu

PROD Bobby Păunescu, Anca Puiu

SCR Cristi Puiu

DP Viorel Sergovici

CAST Cristi Puiu, Valeria Seciu, Luminiţa Gheorghiu, Gelu Colceag, Valentin Popescu, Catrinel Dumitrescu, Gheorghe Ifrim, Ileana Puiu, Clara Voda

ED Ion Ioachim Stroe

SOUND André Rigaut

Cannes (Un Certain Regard), Transilvania (Romanian Days), Karlovy Vary (East of the West): East of the West Award, New York, London (Film on the Square), São Paulo (International Perspective), Vancouver, Rotterdam (Bright Future), Göteborg (Rumänien), CPH PIX (Spotlight: Rumænien), BAFICI (Trayectorias), San Francisco (World Cinema)

Synopsis

“There is no such thing as a murderer, only people who kill.” With these words director Cristi Puiu qualifies his careful study of contemporary Romanian society and of fatal acts such as murder. The film focuses on 42-year-old Viorel who is going through a gloomy period of life that leads him to the point of killing without it being clear whether or not it’s his divorce and his conflict with loved ones provoking him to open fire. The film attempts to demystify the act of murder, rendering it as something in no way spectacular, just as there is nothing remarkable about a person who commits murder. The director doesn’t psychologize his characters or indicate where they are heading, while his intentionally staid narrative contributes to the overall suspense and lack of certainty. Although Viorel’s behavior doesn’t make him stand out, he gives the impression of having been long divorced from reality. Or is it the whole of society that’s become detached from reality? —Karlovy Vary IFF

Director

Original

Cristi Puiu

Cristi Puiu’s debut as a director was in 2001 with the low budget road movie Stuff and Dough (Marfa si Banii) starring Alexandru Papadopol and Dragos Bucur. The film received several awards in international film festivals and competed in the Quinzaines des Realisateurs section of the Cannes Film Festival. He continued with a short film, Cigarettes and Coffee (Un cartus de Kent si un pachet de cafea, 2004), which was awarded the Golden Bear for best short film at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival.
His second film, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Moartea domnului Lazarescu, 2005), features the drama of an old man who is carried by an ambulance from hospital to hospital all night long, as doctors keep refusing to treat him and send him away. The film was a critical success, being awarded with Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival and numerous awards at other international film festivals. Year 2006 brought 47 prizes for his film The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Moartea… read more

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Ciprian David

12Jun13

Aurora is one of my most loved films. I just saw it today, again - it's been a while. This time it was all about the camera, acting just in the same vein as the main character, even schmoozing him. I assume Cristi Puiu chose such a neurotic character in order to dislocate the general function of an observing camera and take it to Auroras level, where small gestures would only be cheap film realism.

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Slowart

5Jan13

http://eefb.org/archive/july-2011/aurora/

chanandre and Slowart like this

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OLIVER-J

23Feb12

very impressive. it doesn't offer easy answers but that didn't bother me. the few scenes of violence were handled perfectly with surprising, slow-burn tension.

Picture of Pouya G. Asadi

Pouya G. Asadi

10Feb12

Indeed

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Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Daily Briefing. Spielberg, Solomon, Mitchum, Lucas

By David Hudson on March 27, 2012

The new Film Quarterly and a round of papers from Boston.

read article
W184

NYAFF, Film Quarterly and Lots More

By David Hudson on June 30, 2011

Roundup of the New York Asian Film Festival, the new issue of Film Quarterly, and more.

read article
W184

NYFF 2010. Cristi Puiu's "Aurora"

By David Hudson on October 2, 2010

"For all its willingness to risk audience discomfort by immersing the viewer in the slow, agonizing buildup to the titular event, Cristi

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Blank

Cannes 2010: A Devil without the Details: "Aurora" (Cristi Puiu, Romania)

By Daniel Kasman on May 16, 2010

The veritable circus of Bucharest society that swirled around and defined Cristi Puiu’s last film, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, a study of a

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W184

Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Day 3

By Daniel Kasman on May 15, 2010

Above: Patricio Guzman's Nostalgia for the Light. Aurora (Cristi Puiu, Romania) This film is so long it deserves two notes: (1)  If you

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W184

Cannes 2010. Cristi Puiu's "Aurora" + "Slow Cinema Vs Fast Films"

By David Hudson on May 14, 2010

"Is this Romania's year at Cannes again, as it was in 2007?" asks Ben Kenigsberg in Time Out Chicago. Aurora is "the long-awaited new film

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W184

Cannes 2010. Lineup

By David Hudson on April 14, 2010

The lineup for the 63rd Cannes Film Festival is evidently still a work-in-progress, with an additional three or four titles to be added

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Reviews

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aurora?

By prestid​igitato​r on April 19, 2011

“hell is other people.”
j.p. sartre

for about 80% of the watch time, aurora felt confusing. i didn’t know where it was going, but i stuck with it. i wanted to know. the build-up lasted for…  read review

Aurora

By Bobby Wise on December 15, 2010

Cristi Puiu’s “Aurora” is the newest representative of New Romanian Cinema. This is the follow-up to his successful and critically-acclaimed “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” (2005), which was one of the…  read review

Forum

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What is to understand?

22 posts by 4 people over 1 year ago