Occident (2002)

Critic’s Opinion
"Romanians have always wanted to go to the West. This was the case during Ceauşescu’s regime and this is also the case today for reasons we all know. Cristian Mungiu craftily presents the two temporal layers, without the use of tacky flashbacks as was customary in the Communist cinema, but, instead, by breaking the story into three chapters which contradict one another and which add information on the way. Occident takes place in a pitiful Romania, ridden however with gags typical to the times we live in and, as a critic once put it, paradoxically, wanderlust makes a great pair with staying put. And, since we’re talking about paradoxes, Occident is a film in which elder people, of whom we thought to be stuck on an idea, on the contrary, seem to adapt in more elastic way to progress: “Sweetie, good things have also been done, as well”, says Coca Bloos, obviously, in reference to McDonald's." (Mihai Chrilov, Re:Publik mai 2005)