A man in his early 40's, recently dumped by his girlfriend, moves to the slums neighbourhood of Bucharest called Ferentari. He decides to move there to do his PhD in manele music, something that this neighbourhood is known for. Pretty soon he meets and befriends beer-bellied Alberto, an ex-convict. After a couple years of homelessness, he’s living with a wealthy crime-boss cousin as a glorified servant. He is not shy of sharing stories that he has had sex with men in prison and wont mind doing again for money. He also has gambling problem. Before we know the 2 men soon transition from friends to lovers. Since Alberto has no sense of responsibility, he taxes Adi for his already limited finances all the time. Though they both enjoy the closeness, the freedom, the fun; we can also see that their relationship can explode anytime. It's hard to say if Alberto is in it for money (which I don't think so), but he is definitely in for companionship and love. As you can expect after a few instances of fights, their relationship eventually breaks up. Their love may be doomed, but in a way, they’re just right for each other.
First of all, the film is way too long for the things it is trying to show in the film. it can easily be trimmed by 30 minutes and I don't think we will lose the essence. Instead, at least it will be easy to keep audiences attention. I understand that this is autobiographical, but I am not entirely sure what was the point of the film. Were we trying to make a statement or something? I mean, the raw charm of actors and the gypsy life style and locations was very interesting, but a half baked end didn't seem the purpose. Alberto was very good in his part. He showed the man who is dedicated and wants to get and give love but has very short attention span and has serious money issues. Unfortunately, we don't get to understand much of Adi's psychy? He is here for his PhD, so what is his motivation forgetting into a relationship with a gypsy man, lose his money and lose focus from his life. Maybe thats the kind of person he has always been, but we never learn the details. Also, while Adi’s disapproving flatmate warns that Alberto is potentially violent, the film never ventures into the dramatic regions you might expect from with the story of a middle-class man discovering street life at its harshest.
Clearly the movie is not for everyone. There are a lot of imperfections, but despite this, I think it could have been a much better watch than it actually is if we could do some serious editing for this one. (4.5/10)
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