Police, Adjective
Poliţist, adjectiv
Romania
2009
115 Min
Color
1.85:1
Romanian
Synopsis
Cristi is a policeman who refuses to arrest a young man who offers hashish to two of his school mates. “Offering” is punished by the law. Cristi believes that the law will change, he does not want the life of a young man he considers irresponsible to be a burden on his conscience. For his superior the word conscience has a different meaning… —Cannes Film Festival
Director
Corneliu Porumboiu
Corneliu Porumboiu (born September 14, 1975) is a Romanian film director and screenwriter. His 2006 feature 12:08 East of Bucharest won him the Camera d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival. He is the son of well-known football referee Adrian Porumboiu. —Wikipedia
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Ciprian David
9May13
introduced it yesterday as part of a short series of romanian new wave films. found it much more funnier than I used to, but also much more constructed. blocks of realism trapped in a dialectic cage. which didn't worsen my appreciation for the film at all.
Elisabeth Maurer likes this
JOE
10Feb13
I am beginning to explore this Romanian New Wave movement and I really liked this movie. A police film (n.) that defies the conventions of a detective-cop movie in ways similar to Breathless. Police films usually lead us to action, but 50% of Police, Adj. is Cristi waiting around. His job is following pot-smoking teenagers and dealing with Romanian red-tape and we are forced to sit there with him and wait. I dig it.
msmichel
8Mar12
Though not quite up to the level set by "12:08 East of Bucharest" this is a clever examination of procedure, routine, morality and in the end lanquage. The pacing is quite deliberate and numbing after awhile but also quite mesmerizing. Performances are adequate save Vlad Ivanov who appears as the police captain in the final reel proving his performance in '4 Months..." was no one-off. A simple premise but clever.
Namaste and Adam W. Parker like this
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Articles
Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
Daily Briefing. Iran Detains Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
By David Hudson on September 7, 2011
The co-director of Jafar Panahi’s This Is Not a Film is banned from traveling outside Iran. Plus: Senses of Cinema needs help.
Cinema Scope, Film Quarterly, Sight & Sound
By David Hudson on March 20, 2010
"I hate compiling lists, and I hate polls," announces Mark Peranson, introducing Issue 42 of Cinema Scope, the centerpiece of which is
Artforum, "A Film With Me In It"
By David Hudson on January 1, 2010
"To endure five twelve-hour days of a Jack Smith conference is to realize that Smith isn't exactly the kind of figure you organize a conference
"Police, Adjective," New Issues and More
By David Hudson on December 23, 2009
In the new Voice, J Hoberman reviews the film he's placed in the #3 slot on his top ten of 2009 list (and for more on the Voice poll and
Corneliu Porumboiu Discusses a Scene from "Police, Adjective"
By Corneliu Porumboiu on December 23, 2009
For the first time, Cristi’s wife, Anca is introduced in this scene. In a first draft of the script this scene was one that characterized the
The Auteurs Daily: Film Comment (and Updates)
By David Hudson on November 7, 2009
Selections from the November/December 2009 issue of Film Comment have been posted along with a few online exclusives, among them, the full
Eccentricities of an American Film Festival: AFI Fest 2009
By Gabe Klinger on November 1, 2009
Above: Philippe Grandrieux’s divisive A Lake, playing at this year's AFI Fest. What do you call a film festival that has shrunken by nearly
The Auteurs Daily: NYFF. Police, Adjective
By David Hudson on September 29, 2009
"Less is more in the sophomore feature by Cannes Camera d'or winner Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest), a filmmaker attentive
Cannes 2009: Questionable Observation ("Politist, Adjectiv," Porumboiu)
By Daniel Kasman on May 16, 2009
The emphasis on observation in the recent upsurge Romanian cinemas has, in the films I’ve seen, always been a style and not a commentary
POLICE, ADJECTIVE review
By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
(Police, Adjective is available to buy on UK DVD from 14th February 2011, courtesy of Artificial Eye.)There’s a key passage of dialogue towards the end of Corneliu Porumboiu’s Police, Adjective that serves
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Reviews
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Well shot and thats it
By Heywood Seth on October 23, 2012
The framing and washed out colours made this artistically bearable for about 20 minutes. I tried hard to pull something out of almost nothing at all in the way of a storyline. The main character offers… read review
Police, subjective.
By Товарищ Петя. on August 13, 2010
In “Police, Adjective”, Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu devotes himself to the story of a small town cop reluctant of busting a minor for endorsing hashish with friends. Although vague at first… read review
POLICE, ADJECTIVE (ROMANIA/2009/CORNELIU PORUMBOIU)
By micmac● on April 8, 2010
Flying the flag for an exciting new trend in Romanian cinema, Police, Adjective takes its cue from the likes of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and California Dreamin’, dealing with another aspect of… read review
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POLICE, ADJ. - General Discussion
13 posts by 8 people
over 3 years ago