It just so happened that, just a month or two apart, I came across two films by the Romanian filmmaker Bogadan George Apetri. The first is the very good thriller “Neidentificat”, and with the next film he presented in the Horizonti section of the Venice festival, Apetri showed that he is a true master of thrillers. Some details in “Miracol” or “Chudo” will be understood only by those who watched the previous film, so after a while it becomes clear that the action of both films takes place in an unnamed Romanian provincial town. And not only that, in one scene we see a slightly out of focus police inspector who was the main character in “Unidentified” and the police chief, but in “Miracol” another inspector is in the foreground.
Although “Miracol” does not follow on from “Unidentified” and is a film completely on its own, both stylistically and thematically it continues on its predecessor. Again we have a police investigator on the edge, the story is full of surprises and twists, it was filmed in typical Romanian naturalistic style with a hand-held camera with excellent, often cynical and caustic dialogues. However, Apetri still seems to defy the canons that made the Romanian new wave famous, because while naturalistic dramas made Romanian film famous 15 years ago, he is turning into a master of thrillers that are also an interesting critique of the social situation.
With this at times violent thriller, Apetri manages to shock and surprise again, and the story begins with the escape of the young and tearful nun Cristina (Ioana Bugarin) from the convent. She gets into a taxi that takes her to a nearby town, and the ride is long and the curious taxi driver and another passenger pass the time by talking. Of course they are interested in what such a young girl is doing in the monastery and where she is going anyway, and when she discovers that she is going to the hospital because she has terrible headaches, the taxi passenger will discover that he is a doctor in the same hospital and will push her across the line to see a neurologist. But when Cristina sneaks from the neurology department to the gynecology department, we will understand what the real problems are of the girl who arrived at the convent a month or two ago.
It is quite difficult to describe the action of “Miracola” without spoiling the story, so I will only reveal that very quickly the story suddenly switches to the investigation of detective Marius (Emanuel Pârva), who becomes more and more angry, desperate, bitter and ready for anything as the deadline expires. the police station can hold a guy suspected of a gruesome crime. Once again, it is a film with great rhythm, tension and tension that hides numerous surprises and shocks, and apart from the exceptional script and direction, the quality that makes “Miracle” rise above most similar genre works is the top acting performances. This is especially true for the young Bulgarian as a young nun for whom it is completely clear to us that something serious is happening to her even before we find out what the problem is. Parvu is fantastic as a police investigator who, we will understand, also has some special reasons for taking the investigation as seriously as possible. And while in his colleagues we see the typical nonchalance and not excessive interest in solving crimes, his Marius is completely obsessive and ready for anything.