Writer, director Cristian Mungiu is at the helm of a renaissance in Romanian cinema. Mungiu attracted international attention when he won the coveted Palmes d’or at Cannes in 2007 for his intense thriller ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’. The drama follows a woman who helps her friend arrange an illegal abortion in 1980’s Romania. The film won other multiple international awards including a Golden Globe nomination. Mungiu’s latest film Beyond the Hills, inspired by a true story, has won more attention at Cannes 2012, with Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan winning a shared Best Actress Award for their outstanding performances.

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Two young women, Alina (Cristina Flutur) and Voichita (Cosmina Stratan), who grew up together in an orphanage in Romania, become lovers. They are forced to separate when Alina still deeply in love with Voichita, leaves for Germany.

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The women reunite  two years later when Alina returns to Romania in search of Voichita. In her absence, Voichita has become a devout novice living in the small orthodox convent under medieval conditions. The place has no electricity or plumbing and the water has to be fetched by pail from a well. Alina is determined to resume her relationship with Voichita but despite the hardships Voichita will not leave the convent. An increasingly desperate Alina tries various strategies to undermine the priest and tempt Voichiţa away, including attempted suicide. When she becomes violent, the nuns begin to fear she is diabolically possessed. They tie her to a wooden stretcher and subject her to starvation and exorcism.

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Cristian Mungiu technical skills are unquestionable but this psychological drama will test your patience (over two hours) especially at the film’s mid section where it feels slow and repetitive. Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan deliver remarkable performances. The complexity between these young women is engaging; love and faith are at the root of this problematic and unforgiving pairing. Beyond the Hills brilliantly tackles a fanatical interpretation of Romanian religion with its intense drama about faith, its excesses, and the lives it engulfs within its power. Wisely Mungiu never preaches, but rather leaves the audience to decide. This motion picture confirms Mungiu maturing talent and reinforces his status as an important filmmaker on the world stage. Beyond the Hills is a highly unusual, exceptional film and completely unlike anything Hollywood might produce.

-Christophe Chanel