Balaur (2021)

Balaur (2021). Balaur: Directed by Octav Chelaru. With Mãlina Manovici, Alexandru Papadopol, Sergiu Smerea, Voicu Dumitras. Ecaterina, a high school Religion teacher and wife of the town priest, gets involved with Iuliu, a 16-year-old student with a troubled past. Ecaterina tries to keep him under control, but she loses her own sense of control in this process.

“The slow pace, deliberate classicism, and thematics of this debut film would easily serve as arguments for shipping it off as u0026quot;another one of those East European dramasu0026quot; that have been practically mass-produced in recent years. This would be to overlook the fact that Chelaruu0026#39;s feature film unmasks the patriarchal workings with astonishing maturity, often at the turn of a shot or a dialogue.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePassed under all the major radars, this story about the perilous relationship between a Religion teacher married to an Orthodox priest and one of her underage students certainly does not have the subversive charge of a Radu Jude, but can boast of a beautiful suspense where we can guess the influence of Michael Haneke.”