Graduation

Graduation, a 2016 Romanian drama film, offers a gripping peek into the multifaceted nature of morality and familial bonds in a broader social and political framework. Directed by Cristian Mungiu, the film skillfully mirrors the struggles of ordinary people whose lives are inevitably influenced by the corruption and complexities present in their society. It features remarkable performances by Adrian Titieni, Maria Dragus, and Lia Bugnar.

At its heart, the film tells the compelling story of a physician named Romeo Aldea, brilliantly portrayed by Adrian Titieni. He's a man of certain moral values and principles, living in a small, post-communist mountain town in Transylvania, Romania. Romeo's progressive mindset is a reflection of his educated background and the years spent in Romania's communist era. He's fully convinced that happiness and success for his daughter Eliza (Maria Dragus) lie outside their home nation, perhaps in the UK, where she has just secured a scholarship to study Psychology.

However, just as Eliza stands on the precipice of a brighter future, an unfortunate and unsettling incident happens, casting a shadow over her seamless journey to her scholarship. It threatens to jeopardize her final academic evaluation, which is crucial for securing her recently-won British scholarship. When all his efforts to address the issue fail, Romeo faces a serious dilemma, as he is compelled to compromise his principles and solicit unethical assistance to ensure his daughter's future is not dimmed.

Eliza, played by Maria Dragus with a winning combination of youthful innocence and steely determination, becomes the fulcrum of Graduation's layered narrative. Although initially seeming a victim, she gradually evolves into an individual who recognizes the nuanced complexities of right and wrong, and the role societal corruption can bid an individual to play. Her relationship with her father is a central theme that overarches the film's exploration of ethics, corruption, and parenity.

Adrian Titieni gives a profoundly complex performance as Romeo, a man caught between his zeal for his daughter's future and his pride in upholding his values. As the narrative unfolds, the image of Romeo as an upstanding citizen is gradually eroded, revealing a man whose principles are not as immutable as they first seemed. As Romeo marches down an ethically questionable path, Graduation raises questions about where one draws the line between looking after one's own and the broader good of society.

Lia Bugnar provides the perfect foil to Adrian Titieni's Romeo as his wife, Magda. Her character’s increasingly strained relationship with Romeo adds another layer of emotional depth to the already intricate story, further accentuating the movie's exploration of familial bonds and personal sacrifices.

Additionally, the representation of a corrupt, post-communist Romanian society is palpable throughout the film. Unbribed officials are considered a rarity, prejudices are subtly institutionalized, and the notion of 'doing the right thing' is a fluid concept, contingent on the privileges at stake. Mungiu offers no clear answers to the dilemmas and challenges faced by the characters, authentically reflecting the complexities of real life.

The cinematography in Graduation is strikingly real and raw, reflecting both external landscapes and internal emotional states with a single-shot technique. This cinema-verité style serves to amplify the visceral reality of the circumstances faced by the characters. Each shot feels connected to the bigger picture, just as each individual's actions and decisions in the film are depicted as elements that contribute to the interwoven fabric of a nuanced societal system.

In Graduation, Cristian Mungiu continues his exploration of the themes of personal conscience, societal morality, and familial love, drawing the audience in with a fascinating, multi-layered narrative of a father’s love and the lengths one might consider going to for the sake of a child’s future. The film becomes a microcosm of greater societal issues, making it more than just a personal narrative, but an exploration of life in a system corroded by corruption.

This film is a thought-provoking exploration into the interplay between one's principles and the necessity of compromise in the unscrupulous pursuit of an ideal. The many faces of integrity and the often invisible costs of corruption are laid bare in a narrative that is as gripping as it is unsettling. All these elements combine in Graduation to create a powerful film that resonates long after the credits roll.