Sunday, January 10, 2016

Film Review: Iulian: A True Story (2014) Alex Mironescu

By Olivia Maria Hărşan




Alex Mironescu’s docu-drama Iulian: A True Story is a true story about humanity. Iulian walks the streets as a modern shepherd, abandoned dogs follow him acting as sheep dogs while the almost-mystical fog engulfs the image. He treads through the grey landscape as if to mimic one of Béla Tarr’s anomic male personas - completely alienated from the ‘real’ world, from society. Iulian grew up in an orphanage, a product of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s absurd banning of contraceptives in communist Romania. He eats his meals in the homes of a couple of generous residents and sleeps in a tent which he assembles every evening in a nearby vacant lot that is riddled with pollution. Iulian seems oddly content with his life, perhaps because it is simple and absent of the stress common individuals suffer.

No comments: