Special Encore Screening!

Following his fascinating period piece Malmkrog, Cristi Puiu returns with an equally loquacious epic of a different sort. Ironically reflected in the Roman numerals of the title, the annus horribilis 2020 becomes the backdrop for a daring quartet of seemingly unconnected shorts. The dominant tone is rage, complete with extra layers of domestic unrest that defined the pandemic times. Rigorously composed, some episodes are two-hander conversations captured in a single shot, another echoes the choreographed chaos in Sieranevada. It’s an intriguing and provocative offer steering from the director’s conviction that back then, dialogue was perceived as an aggression. Going from absurdly funny to grimly macabre, this hard-hitting medley of ‘human comedy’ proportions encapsulates the mundane, bizarre and brutal essence of the deceptive world we all live in.

Screening as part of the 18th edition of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema