Beyond the Hills
| Beyond the Hills | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Cristian Mungiu |
| Written by | Cristian Mungiu |
| Starring | Cosmina Stratan Cristina Flutur |
| Cinematography | Oleg Mutu |
| Edited by | Mircea Olteanu |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sundance Selects (United States) Madman Entertainment (Australia) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 155 minutes |
| Country | Romania |
| Language | Romanian |
Beyond the Hills (Romanian: După dealuri) is a 2012 Romanian drama film directed by Cristian Mungiu, starring Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan.[1] The narrative follows two young women at an Orthodox convent in Romania.[2]
The film premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where Mungiu won the award for Best Screenplay, and Flutur and Stratan shared the award for Best Actress. It was selected as the Romanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards,[3] making the January shortlist.[4]
Cast
- Cosmina Stratan as Voichiţa
- Cristina Flutur as Alina
- Valeriu Andriuţă as Priest
- Dana Tapalagă as Mother superior
- Cătălina Harabagiu as Antonia
- Gina Ţandură as nun Iustina
- Vica Agache as nun Elisabeta
- Nora Covali as Nun Pahomia
- Dionisie Vitcu as Mr. Valerică
Production
The screenplay was inspired by two non-fiction novels by the writer Tatiana Niculescu Bran, documenting the case of a young member of a monastery in Moldavia, who died in 2005 after an exorcism ritual. The film production was made through the director's company Mobra Films. It received also production support from Belgium and France. It received €273,100 from Romania's National Centre for Cinema and €400,000 from Eurimages. Filming took place from November 2011 to February 2012.[2]
Release
The film premiered in the main competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened on May 19.[5] At Cannes, Mungiu won the award for Best Screenplay, while Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan shared the award for Best Actress.[6]
Critical response
Dan Fainaru of Screen Daily wrote from Cannes: "Spare, unadorned and strikingly shot, Cristian Mungiu's film is an unusual rendering of a Romanian exorcism case and is bound to split both audience and critical opinions, some considering it a major achievement and others blaming it for overlong pretentious sensationalism. But it will certainly not pass unnoticed."[7]
Sight & Sound film magazine listed the film at #8 on its list of best films of 2012.[8]
See also
- Romanian New Wave
- List of submissions to the 85th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Romanian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ^ "Cannes Film Festival 2012 line-up announced". timeout. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ^ a b Staff writer (2012-04-18). "Romania's Mungiu in Post-Production with French/Belgian Coproduction". Film New Europe. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
- ^ "Romania picks 'Beyond the Hills' for Oscar race". Variety. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- ^ "9 Foreign Language Films Vie For Oscar". Oscars. Retrieved 2012-12-21.
- ^ "Screenings guide" (PDF). festival-cannes.fr. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
- ^ "Awards 2012". Cannes. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
- ^ Fainaru, Dan (2012-05-18). "Beyond The Hills". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
- ^ "Paul Thomas Anderson's 'The Master' Tops Sight & Sound's Best Of 2012". Retrieved 1 December 2012.
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