By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.375 | 3.5 cats
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Starring: Agustí Villaronga | Catrinel Marlon | Rodica Lazar | Vlad Ivanov
Original language title: La Gomera
Country: france, germany, romania, sweden
Year: 2020
Running time: 97
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7921248/reference
Jeffrey says: “This Buried Treasure-eligible piece from Romanian director, Porumboiu (12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST, THE TREASURE), is billed as a heist movie, but, in its gritty meditation on corruption, bears little resemblance to its glossy Hollywood counterparts. Cristi (Vlad Ivanov) is a Romanian cop, working the case of jailed gangster, Zsolt (Sabin Tambrea), but also working with Zsolt’s gangster associates to break him out of jail. Cristi’s boss, Magda (Rodica Lazar), thinks nothing of planting evidence to snag a suspect, and his partner is only too happy to do the dirty work. There’s also, of course, a femme fatale in this in this noirish enterprise, Gilda, played with cool elegance by Catrinel Marlon, who tells Cristi the first time we see them together, ‘Forget what happened in Bucharest. That was just for the surveillance cameras.’ Surveillance cameras are, indeed, everywhere. Cristi cannot forget what happened in Bucharest, and that memory drives his actions, which he carries out with stoic forbearance.
“The movie provides a fascinating cultural sidebar. Cristi goes to La Gomera in the Canary Islands to learn the gangster’s coded means of communicating by whistles (thus, the movie’s title), known as El Silbo. The movie spends sufficient time on Cristi’s learning curve for us to gain a basic understanding of how it works. Get a little culture along with your entertainment. 4 cats”
Michael says: “This convoluted caper film directed by noted Romanian director Coneliu Porumboiu (12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST, POLICE ADJECTIVE) is a swirling brew of double, triple, even quadruple-crosses, where the viewer is never quite sure who is going to betray who, and who are ultimately the white caps and the black caps. The story focuses on Cristi, a police officer who is working undercover both with and against a gang of crooks involved in a scheme to find a whole pile of money. To effect his undercover job, he must travel to one of the Canary Island to learn a complicated code of whistles so that the group can communicate across distances without being understood. He is ostensibly working undercover for his tough and wily law enforcement chief, Magda. The spanner is Gilda, the femme fatale who delivers Cristi to the Islands and helps to teach him the whistling language, even as she is also involved in a double-cross with the gang to get the money for herself an a subset of the crooks. While there is nothing overtly humorous about the action onscreen, there is a playful feel to the film that keep you entertained. There are many references to old films, from Gilda’s name to a scene in a movie theatre set to John Wayne’s THE SEARCHERS. A roadside motel with a desk clerk who uses opera both to educate and inform is a notable location, and the scenes in the Canary Islands are beautiful. This one is a lot of fun. 3 1/2 cats”
Julie says: “I agree with the 3.5 cat rating and the review is fitting. There were a couple of lines by Christi where I laughed out loud (and it was apropos to). I liked the bits of non-operatic music that other than the first bit are not mentioned in a review that focuses on the music. the operatic and classical music was fine as well. There was a lot of attention to detail in the music and I loved that. There were other parts that were comical that were not intended to be so. And yes with the double triple and quadruple crossing it became too complicated with poor or no explanations, and in one case things just made no sense at all. The ending left a lot to be desired. I was so so so happy with the ending of BLOW THE MAN DOWN. In equal amount I was so unhappy with the ending of THE WHISTLERS. I won’t say any more than that.
“I forgot that this was the film directed by the director of 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST which I recall cinematography-wise being wonderful but also that film jelled nicely in all parts. This one does have some nice cinematography for sure both in Bucharest and especially when at the Canary islands. And interesting production design re the motel as an example and some other interesting places along the way.
“I did not realize that this whistling is a real thing on the island they were at. Perhaps this is because I found they such a bad job in the whistling dept!
“I am not really sure this film is worth watching. Well if you have the time then go ahead.”
Beth Ca. says: “I feel bad I voted for this to be a buried treasure nominee. I don’t think it’s anywhere near a treasure. It was terrible with regard to the delivery of the lines written in the script. Just terrible. I wondered a lot whether this was intentional and why the director would think that would work. But, the plot twists are silly and although it had spectacular visual (and other medium) design, it doesn’t reach the threshold for what I believe is outstanding filmmaking. I think these nominees should be outstanding, and I’m sorry everyone, this one isn’t. I’m sad. I think I’m giving it 2.5 cats”
Diane says: “Well, that was entertaining! I give 4 cats to this quadruple-crossing romp for its strong female leads, foregrounded music, and production design. The locations are so good that, in a funny turn, an American filmmaker shows up to check one out for his own film. All it needed was a dance number at the end—perhaps a waltz. I imagine no one is actually supposed to be able to follow the plot turns.”