R.M.N. (2022)
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R.M.N. Movie Review
R.M.N. is a 2022 Romanian drama film directed by Cristian Mungiu. It is one of the worst movies of the year and the director’s most disappointing film to date.
Matthias returns to his parents’ mountain village in Transylvania, longing to see his ex Csilla again. Arriving on the scene, he notices the unrest caused by Csilla offering two foreigners work in her bakery. Eventually, chaos erupts as the villagers rebel against the migrants. Mungiu is one of my favorite directors and I still have faith in him even after this disastrous project. Are we supposed to believe that a director behind the powerful ‘4 Months’ and the socially important and sophisticated ‘Graduation’ made this biased political pamphlet? He obviously did, but the question is whether his own feelings align with his intentions, which is to sell a film to the Western critics.
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There is a whole discussion to be had about his true intentions here, but ultimately the more important thing to remember here is that this is not a good movie by any measurement. First off, I am from Eastern Europe myself and what he depicted here is simply not realistic. He obviously pandered to the Western audience, which felt like the biggest letdown from this usually much more honest director.
Let’s talk about the politics of this movie, which are truly asinine. With the exception of Muslims, I personally am very much in favor of migration. That’s not the issue here. The problem is that any movie that deals with such a complex socioeconomic issue should at least try to depict both sides. This one intentionally failed to do that as not only are we preached about what is “the good side”, but those who oppose migration are depicted in such awful, cartoony and exaggerated manner that made absolutely no sense. This story can only happen in movies, and particularly in American films, which is why it rang extra false for this Romanian director.
When it comes to politics, the world is not black-and-white. This film is. And you can make a point and choose a side, but you should at least try to portray the other side and start a conversation. Unfortunately, R.M.N. not only did purposefully decide to not start meaningful discourse about the subject, but it very viciously and insidiously depicted any opposition.
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For example, there is one excellent argument being brought up about the dangers of Muslim migrants in Europe, which is a valid argument that is an urgent issue in Scandinavia in particular. But the movie conflated this argument when put in with the other more outlandish accusations by the villagers about the migrants spreading potential diseases to them, etc. This is a very intentional vilification on the part of Mungiu and I did not stand for it.
But the worst moment came sometime at the midpoint when the house where migrants stayed was stoned and the perpetrators were wearing KKK masks. The former is already very difficult to buy, but the latter plot point absolutely infuriated me. Are we supposed to believe that in Romania people do this? Apparently we are. And for Mungiu the lack of realism isn’t an issue as he pandered to the West so much that it led to incredible reviews across the board, but had any of those critics actually researched the culture and political landscape of this region, they would realize how ridiculous this entire storyline is. He should have just added transgender characters and he would have gone full-circle in appealing to said reviewers.
What about the movie itself? When you discount the politics, which is impossible in this instance, we are left still with his worst film to date. The cinematography is at first strong, but later it moves to the shaky cam approach, which I really despise. The finale with the bears came out of nowhere literally and the entire script was so unsophisticated and so implausible to the point of becoming ludicrous. The dialogue is cringe-worthy in its simplicity and the characters are also painted in the broadest strokes possible. The acting is serviceable, but the characters are not good.
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R.M.N. is the biggest letdown of this year. Cristian Mungiu is one of my favorite directors, but what he did here was inexcusable. He made a film about social unrest in Romania between villagers and migrants, but his depiction of the villagers is so vile, cartoony and exaggerated that it was absolutely ludicrous to watch. This is the type of film that purposefully tries to omit any more meaningful discourse about what is already a very difficult socioeconomic issue. Instead, it not only chooses a side, but it paints the other one in the broadest strokes possible. The movie is well filmed and it benefits from an interesting setting, but the dialogue is cringe-worthy in its simplicity, the characters are undercooked and the entire story truly made no sense that watching it genuinely made me feel that I’m getting dumber in the process. Mungiu here obviously intended to pander to Western critics, which he succeeded at, but at a huge cost as he lost the integrity and honesty that characterized his previous works.
My Rating – 2.5
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