POLICE, ADJECTIVE (Romania 2009) ***
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu

Director Corneliu Porumboiu’s POLICE, ADJECTIVE is an observational piece of sorts.  Porumboiu’s camera follows an undercover cop Cristi (Dragos Bucur) as he goes about his daily routine.  His current assignment is to bust the local supplier of hash.  Cristi wheels and deals at his work to get what he needs (i.e. information from records; photos; names and addresses), pressures the busted school kid, calms his dissatisfied wife among other things.  All in a day’s work! 

In the process, Cristi revealed as diligent, honest and loving to his wife.  These character traits are seen through his deeds rather than through drama or dialogue.

Porumboiu offers his audience a good look at Romanian life while entertaining them with lots of humour and insight as well.  This seems to be the current trend of Romanian cinema and we are not complaining!

Film has a special one week engagement at the Royal.  A minor hit at Cannes 2009 and on many critics’ lists as top 10 of the year!