Aferim! (2015)
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Aferim! Movie Review
Aferim! is a 2015 Romanian historical drama film directed by Radu Jude and starring Teodor Corban. It’s another gem of Romanian cinema.
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“I hate the Ottomans.
The filthiest people on Earth“
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The film is set in Wallachia in the early 19th century when a local policeman, Costandin, is hired by a boyar to find Carfin, a Roma slave who had run away from the boyar’s estate after having an affair with his wife, Sultana. This is a very harsh history lesson that needs to be given, but it’s certainly not easy to stomach. Apparently, the slavery of Roma people was widely practiced for many decades and it was not fully abolished until 1856. Until then, all gypsies were the property of Romanian (as well as Moldovan) people and they lived in very poor conditions.
The movie is hugely realistic and detailed in the depiction of their misery, even crossing the line in the third act where a gypsy man gets his scrotum cut off. That was unnecessary to witness and overly brutal, but it is definitely admirable that the film did not stray away from the brutal realities of this time period in Romania. It was also a very sophisticated portrayal of the Romanians back then and how they gave excuses for their horrendous treatment of gypsies.
Aferim! is so accomplished as a history lesson, but it is not to be underestimated as an adventurous spectacle that it clearly is. Being obviously inspired by Kurosawa works and also westerns, this is basically a Romanian version of a western picture that is unlike their US counterparts actually grounded in reality and not romanticized, but still retaining the spectacle. That mixture was perfect in my opinion and is the sole reason why the movie is so superb.
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I would have personally liked to have seen more of the adventure elements, but what we got was still outstanding. And simply traversing the Wallachian landscapes with our main characters was very enjoyable, especially because the technicalities are so tremendous. The imagery here is frequently arresting and in particular the natural landscapes from bogs to grasslands to forests were all beautiful to witness.
Aferim! jumps from one adventurous sequence to a stellar conversation and it was glorious to behold as the dialogue is so smartly written and actually really witty. The film’s humor is not to be underestimated as it made me laugh quite a lot. Yes, it’s crude, but this is how people talked during this period, thus it was hugely believable. The sexual humor and the various stereotypes being accentuated were particularly humorous to hear. The overall dialogue is truly something special as we get to know characters through it while also getting to understand the history of Romania as a whole and especially the religious/sociological aspect of it.
The cast also did a great job. All of the gypsies are very memorable, tragic figures, but Teodor Corban as Constandin is particularly unforgettable as this very funny and charismatic, but in his core horrible person. His development and the overall depiction is simply fantastic and every single scene of his is a showcase of both strong characterization at play and great acting.
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Aferim! is a visual masterpiece with a truly astounding use of black-and-white cinematography to capture this setting and time period in meticulous and polished, but suitably archaic detail. The score is also great and I really liked the incorporation of music here, but that overlong scene was just too extended with the film’s pacing and structure being meandering a bit at times. But still, I loved this film and I found it highly important in its subject matter.
