The opening aerial shot of Traffic (Reostat) from Romanian filmmaker, Teodora Mihai, appears like out of a fairy-tale. But even seconds into this, fairly clear a fairy-tale this is not. At least, not in the traditional sense. Like many experiences with all walks of life, Traffic has a heroine, a villain, a prize to be sought after, unfamiliar lands to roam. Even those opening moments of vivid blues and browns of our rural Romanian village – and those dog bark echoes – whisper contrasts through our eyes.
The heroes and villains of this highly accomplished drama come in many shapes and form. Immigrants working hard for little reward. Crooks who want to take from over-privileged. High class museum curators wearing their heart and art on their sleeves. In its down-to-Earth tones and gritty realism, Traffic echoes much of the rich, social heavyweights that have really solidified European cinema of the recent decades. It might be no coincidence, then, that Mihai’s drama is written by Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days). His ruffled heart feathers are all over this with pretty much every significant conversation to be had here.
That opening, given the semi-darkness a kind of human magnetism, sets the lay of the land as a bleak one. One where our protagonists (like Mungiu’s other works Graduation and Beyond the Hills) have to confront dilemmas and questions how to handle them, while doing so on foreign soil and circumstances. Traffic is a harrowing, absorbing journey. Portraying the oppressed Romanian workers, and their day-to-day plights, while still maintaining a kind of serenity.
That is what gives Traffic a beating heart. Through Natalia (Anamaria Vartolomei), we see the poor working conditions and treatment of these people. Almost infuriating to watch – especially if you have worked for peanuts, but are spoken to like animals in return. Mihai’s direction does not exactly walk on egg shells. But she certainly handles her subject with plenty of love and care, without coddling them and playing the sympathy card.
In fact, Traffic as a whole shows our characters having to wander with worn out shoes through worlds perhaps unfamiliar to ours. Though not necessarily any better. Mihai allows these regular people to just walk, too. An ample amount of various scenes times are hefted by characters arriving or leaving a certain place. Also, the camera is not afraid to explore the surroundings without disrespectfully pulling us from the space of these people.
And even in rare moments you are asked to stretch your beliefs, Mihai directs with a steady hand. Making an art exhibit break-in as level-headedly engaging as the organic human interaction. And it is the story details and rolling dialogue that give Traffic further natural dimension. There’s a scene of people literally working with garbage – or as one character corrects another “waste, not garbage”. Another scene towards the end captures such personalised detail. Our museum fellow hesitating in which bins to put his garbage into – a polystyrene food container, a bottle, and a plastic fork – while the detectives just want to crack on with their investigations.
Human dynamics is a complicated and powerful thing. And one which is very tricky to get right or make authentic through the pages of a screenplay. This is why this particular audience member lavishes in the works of Cristian Mungiu, Andrey Zvyagintsev, the Dardennes, and Asghar Farhadi – for example. Mihai won’t mind the comparison either to those masters. There are seriously not many who can through the cinematic lens make hotel abortion, home demolition, losing your job, and marriage breakdown so ultimately compelling.
The casting here though is in the same fine ballpark as the characterisation itself. Moments and decisions, and pondering on them, are potentially life changing. Some manage to drop their moral compass out of fear and desperation. Law enforcement, in their fancy cars, muddying their shoes at the village of an elderly lady whose husband lays dying of cancer. And she’s not wrong to call them out. That they only know policing and there is little regard for human emotion and welfare.
Ita (Rares Andrici), who seems to be the brains and driving force of the criminal activity, literally dresses for the part with his tracksuits and baseball cap, and ultimately his naivety gets the better of him. Then Ginel (Ionut Niculae), Natalia’s partner, is so easily lead, his only gusto comes out when he thinks she has taken an escorting job and she gets a slap across the face. There are many facets to many characters here, and it comes back to that contrasting of our senses.
Natalia is where the main plot turns lie. It is her working a one-off waitressing job at a adult gala, where Mr Michels (Thomas Ryckewaert) crosses the social line to engage with her. Later we realise the sentimental value of a piece of art from an unforgettable attraction. When they meet again towards the end it is under very different circumstances. It’s a truly piercing moment, as the camera holds Natalia’s face for the duration of her questioning – near enough 6 minutes. Not only does it give her the chance to have her say, but also allows the audience a bit of breathing space.
On the back of Happening, Mickey 17, Being Maria, and The Count of Monte-Cristo, Romanian actress, Anamaria Vartolomei, is the MVP here. And she hardly moves a muscle. Her naturalistic glide through her scenes, as well as the inch-perfect movement of her eyes, grounds in right at the centre of the film’s harsh reality. What makes the film’s poster so devastatingly perfect is that Vartolomei blends that beauty of an oil painting with a fresh-faced girl you would meet in the park.
Being Romania’s official entry for the International Feature category at the 98th Academy Awards, Traffic is more than worthy of the shortlist. For any nation. However, the competition for those five slots to represent the rest of world cinema is an extremely tight space. The film distribution juggernauts, Neon, have so many hands in the pie, you can hardly see the plate. With France, Norway, South Korea, and Brazil hogging the limelight under Neon, Romania needs a jolt of publicity to be taken seriously. Even with further films from the likes of Tunisia, Argentina, and Taiwan, Traffic warrants genuine consideration here.
The name, Cristian Mungiu, is great ammunition here for sure. But director, Teodora Mihai, has crafted an organic depiction of just a small, but integral, chapter of Romanian culture. And thus deserves her place on that Academy Awards shortlist come 16th December. Traffic is an important cinematic window to look through as we continue to learn about our diverse neighbours. As one guy says to the next in regard to their treatment and reputation, “where you are born matters.”
