Mungiu: I want my characters to look like people from the street

14/04/2008

Romanian film director Cristian Mungiu won the coveted Palme d'Or at Cannes for his movie "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days". In an interview with SETimes correspondent Alina Bandila, Mungiu discusses his approach to moviemaking and his response to worldwide success.

By Alina Bandila for Southeast European Times in Bucharest – 14/04/08

Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. [Getty Images]

Southeast European Times: It's been almost a year since you won the award at Cannes. Rivers of ink have run since. What is behind all this appreciation?

Cristian Mungiu: Some thoughtful people. We very much hoped to create an emotive story, that keeps you on the spot until the end, and we hoped that, after watching this story, people would think differently about the things they see in the movie.

SETimes: How did you receive the news that the film was not nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars? Did the decision surprise you?

Mungiu: Yes.

SETimes: Did you hope differently?

Mungiu: We had an exceptionally favourable press in the States, and I'm sorry I cannot thank personally all those who wrote about the movie -- not because they praised us, but because they were honest. And that created a sort of expectancy. Not having any kind of experience with regard to the Oscar awards, we anticipated that this sympathy in the press would correspond to the sympathy of the Academy members. It did not correspond, and I respect that decision. If this is the decision of 6,000 members of the Academy, I have no comment. I will only observe that we have very different tastes.

SETimes: Last year, in Romania, your movie was ranked first among domestically produced movies, and third among all movies shown in the cinemas in our country. How did the American public receive this movie?

Mungiu: At the screenings I participated in, I felt the reception was very just compared to what the movie intended to say. It was understood as a story, as an emotion, as a film that raises questions. Fortunately, it was not seen as a political movie with either a pro- or anti-abortion message. The film meant to communicate about much more than abortion during communism.

Now, when I no longer accompany the film there, I am really glad that there are many screenings which, I am told, ran with a full box office. It's a very good thing to see a Romanian movie with full box office in the United States, a movie with a budget under $1m and no Hollywood stars.

The US audience, only two weeks after the opening night on January 25th, outnumbered by far the Romanian audience, who had the chance to see the movie in the cinema since September 2007.

In Romania, there are only 30 functional cinemas. I am not disappointed by the Romanian audience of my movie. It is absolutely exceptional for us to be able to gather 75,000 people at a movie, considering the conditions in Romania. If you take a look at the results of the Romanian movies during the last five years, the top ones gathered around 15,000 to 20,000 spectators.

SETimes: Would it have been the same audience if it were not for the award?

Romanian director Cristian Mungiu presents his trophies for best European Director 2007 and best European Film 2007 for his movie "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" at the European Film Awards in Berlin. [Getty Images]

Mungiu: It is obvious that without Palme d'Or, its fate would have been different.

SETimes: How about you? How do you regard this movie?

Mungiu: When I make a movie, I try to make it as honestly as possible compared to my target, and my final purpose is for the story to flow the way I think is best for the story and for me to be content when I watch it.

SETimes: And are you satisfied?

Mungiu: I am perfectly content and I have the feeling that there is no moment in the movie I could have done better. I find that each of the decisions, even the ones I had to take in the nick of time, has been valuable for the movie. That does not happen often to me. For now, I still live with the feeling that most of my decisions have been correct and beneficial for the movie.

SETimes: Although you were not recognised by the American Film Academy, you received the Best Foreign Film award from the European Film Academy. Can we say that there is a fight between cultures?

Mungiu: I do not believe there is a fight -- it is about different tastes and different ways of comprehending. There are many kinds of films in America. We are being unjust with so many people who make great movies that we enjoy watching.

For us, it is very important to have something to say, to have a point of view, to have your story and to be very honest in your demarche, regardless the financial results of the film. These are not films made with an eye to the box office. And this is why they look completely different than some movies whose main idea is that success is measured at the box office.

Normally, you create a star system and you try to exploit and sell the image of those people. And there is nothing bad in that; we simply judge very differently. Because this is my idea about truth -- I want my characters to look like people from the street. But it is wrong to say that there is a fight. There can be no fight. With regard to the movie industry, in terms of hard cash and interest globalisation, American supremacy was attained long ago.

SETimes: However, your movie benefited from the most persistent and successful promotion campaign ever known by a Romanian production.

Mungiu: I believe the film you make deserves to reach to as many people as possible. In order to do so, it must benefit from the most inventive, unconventional and honest promotional methods. I have nothing against promotion as long as it does not alter the movie. But I do not accept the compromise of including an actor I do not believe in only because people know him; I make my movie the way I think is best. And, obviously, after that, I do everything I can to promote it.

For us, through all this marketing, the priority was not to have a box office success in Romania, because there is no such thing. The promotion of my film in Romania was more costly than the amount paid the 70,000 spectators. So, there was no profit. We want the movie to be watched by as many people as possible. That's the difference. I try to generate a sort of inner conflict for these people after they watch the movie. This is my purpose, not counting how much money I raised in Romania. I have no chance. I am glad that a film in which less than $1m was invested has raised $7m so far, all over the world, because it was screened in many cities of Europe, America and Asia. It means that from the point of view of positioning, the message was clear. It is a movie that, although independent, has something to transmit.

SETimes: What's next for you?

Mungiu: First of all, we must finish the other movies in the series called "Memories of the Golden Age" and that will probably take us about one year. There are six more episodes, of about 30 minutes, to be grouped either in a very long movie, or in two shorter ones. Only after that can we ask ourselves what to do next. After finishing this project, I hope to have the time to think of my next author-movie, because this is one I am making as producer and scriptwriter.