Corneliu
\nPorumboiu’s La Gomera \/ The Whistlers was premiered on Saturday
\nat the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. The film was
\nreceived with a standing ovation at the end, according to the official Facebook
\npage of the event. Included in the official selection for the Palme d’Or, La Gomera is Corneliu Porumboiu’s fifth feature film, shot in
\nRomania, Spain and Singapore in 2018. The film casts Vlad Ivanov as the male
\nlead, Catrinel Menghia, Rodica Lazar and Sabin Tambrea, telling the story of
\nCristi, a corrupt Romanian police officer involved in a 30 million-euro illicit
\ndealing with the mob, who ends up on La Gomera Island in Spain. Here he learns
\nEl Silbo, a whistled language used by the locals. Corneliu Porumboiu believes
\nthe screening in Cannes is very important so that a Romanian film can be distributed
\nat international level, claiming Romanian cinematography is thriving at
\npresent. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The film has already received comprehensive reviews in international
\nfilm magazines. Variety writes that
\nthe film’s plot is eccentric, reminding the viewer of a gangster noir, a genre that feels a little schematic and stifling for a
\ndirector normally so beautifully uncategorizable. In turn, IndieWire describes the film as a
\npolished mashup of genre motifs that suggests what might happen if the Ocean’s
\n11 gang assembled on the Canary Islands. The
\nWhistlers, the publication adds, could be ripe for an English-language
\nremake, and don’t be surprised if some hungry producer snaps up the rights. But
\nthat possibility carries a touch of irony, since The Whistlers is already a
\ncovert remake, since it revisits the energy and wit of heist movies before it,
\nas well as the filmmaker’s own structural sophistication of his previous works,
\nand revitalizes both traditions in the process, the IndieWire review also
\nreads. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In turn, RFI writes this is the first whistled film competing for the Palme d’Or in the history of the Cannes
\nFilm Festival, adding that director Corneliu Porumboiu surprises his audience
\nwith an unexpected police musical, toying with the conventions of the genre without
\nexcluding love and humor. Corneliu Porumboiu returns to Cannes after winning in
\n2015 Un Certain Regard for his film The Treasure. In 2009 his film Police, Adjective was also rewarded with
\nthe grand prize of the jury and the FIPRESCI prize in the Un Certain Regard section. Also at Cannes, in 2006, his debut
\nfeature 12:08 East of Bucharest won the Camera d’Or prize. His latest feature, La Gomera, will be premiered in cinema
\nhalls in Romania on September 13. <\/p>\n
(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Corneliu Porumboiu’s latest film, La Gomera, was premiered at Cannes this weekend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":81862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[30334,35610,35280],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-81861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-cannes-film-festival","tag-corneliu-porumboiu","tag-la-gomera"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n