by Rowan Wood, Contributing Writer
The movie that wins the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, will always evoke an interest in the awards race, and frequently gives each winner an edge. This is especially true in the 2020s – the last few films to win the prize (Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, Anora, and It Was Just an Accident) were hard-hitting award contenders. It’s not a pipeline or an exact science, but there is a proven track record. The question remains…does Fjord, this year’s winner, have a real chance?
Loosely based on true events, Fjord follows the Gheorghius, a devoutly religious Romanian-Norwegian family whose lives shift drastically when they move to a small Norwegian fishing village. Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve star as parents, Mihai and Lisbet, who, after a series of unexplained incidents, become embroiled in a fight for their family’s security when they are accused of abusing their children.
Writer/director Cristian Mungiu, whose films focus on contemporary Romanian society and politics, has directed two Palme d’Or-winning features. The other, the 2007 drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, is a similarly thorny and dark character drama. Mungiu clearly has a lot on his mind, and Fjord seems to be the apex of some of those ideas – it is, by its very nature, international, and seems designed to provoke conversation and intrigue around its subject matter. It is also Mungiu’s first film to include English dialogue, and with proven stars (and Oscar nominees) Stan and Reinsve in the lead roles, this seems to be his best chance at Academy Award recognition.
I do intend this to be a review of Fjord, but when the first thing I hear about a movie is that it won the most prestigious film festival award (which also happens to be the first indicator of the following year’s awards race), it’s nearly impossible to separate it from those expectations, especially after a pattern has formed in the past decade. Still, the film needs to stand on its own merits, and that goes for the other films in consideration for awards as well. It’s important to remember that.
That having been said, Fjord is not for everyone. It’s incredibly dramatic but equally quiet and reserved, although that feels incredibly true-to-life. Characters react exactly as real people would, and while sometimes that demands an emotional outburst, it largely means that they keep their true feelings buried out of fear of judgment. That creates a two-way street, both sides of which are necessary for maximum efficacy; the cast must temper every reaction and conceal as much as they can, and the audience must look deeper and extrapolate the true meaning of every interaction. It’s a profound study of the intricacies of domesticity and interpersonal relationships, and there’s hardly a single heightened moment in the film’s two and a half hours. When the film does verge into more elevated territory – which happens very occasionally – it packs a much more powerful punch.
It is almost entirely on the shoulders of the cast, and they are more than up to the challenge. Stan and Reinsve are astonishing, but that’s hardly a surprise; it’s weird to see Stan speak in his native Romanian, but it obviously comes naturally. It’s a very different style of acting than I’ve seen him do before, and it fits this film’s tone perfectly. Other standouts include the sensitive but acidic Lisa Carlehed as neighbor Mia, who decides to represent Mihai and Lisbet in their court case; Markus Tønseth as Mia’s husband Mats, the headmaster of the local school; and Vanessa Ceban as Elia, Mihai and Lisbet’s oldest daughter.
Every character is one thread of a tapestry that becomes more complex as events unfold. I grew up in a small seaside town, and while the village in Fjord is definitely smaller, the intimacy and lack of secrets is something I very much appreciated. Everyone knows everyone, and anything that happens spreads like wildfire throughout the community. It’s impressive how well Mungiu captures that atmosphere, and he supports it with gorgeous exterior photography courtesy of cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru.
It’s a good thing that Fjord won the Palme d’Or; it is not the sort of movie that will agree with everybody – in fact, when you’re watching it, it feels like it’s actively pushing back on those expectations – and its win means more people will seek it out. It’s a domestic drama, legal thriller, and a coming-of-age story, all in equal measure; an unassuming, yet highly provocative cautionary tale that demands rapt attention in every moment. It’s also quite bitter, examining the effect of scrutiny and exclusion with regard to modern expectations. There is an inherent cultural disconnect – the American viewership, myself included, will be lost on some of the nuance of Romanian and Norwegian customs – but the film uses that to its advantage, drawing the audience into the debate and turning the accusatory finger outward as well as inward.
Rating: Loved It
Fjord opens in theaters October 9.
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