By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Jeff Silva | Ramona Badescu
Original language title: L'ordre des choses
Year: 2023
Running time: 72
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27404967/reference/
Chris says: “Watch repair requires a steady hand and infinitesimal patience; this documentary exudes the latter in spades and also requires it from the viewer. Alexandru, a 90-year-old Romanian clock maker, recalls his time as a political prisoner in forced labor camps of that country’s Soviet and Communist regimes. Scenes of him speaking openly about his harrowing past alternate with nearly meditative footage of him at work, a survivor whose old age is positively bucolic compared to what came before. This mostly plays out in lengthy still shots meant to emphasize a sense of place and the value of time being deeply considered rather than glossed over. It’s a beautiful, admirable documentary, but also a challenging one that I had difficulty fully connecting with. It aims for a sense of the sublime but sometimes (such as when it aspires to JEANNE DIELMAN-like rigidity), it simply comes off as pretentious. 2.5 cats