PARKING (2019) – drama film online

This movie can be watched with a Romanian IP address

Directed by: Tudor Giurgiu
Script: Tudor Giurgiu, Marin Mălaicu Hondrari
Cast: Mihai Smarandache, Belén Cuesta, Ariadna Gil, Luis Bermejo, Carmen Florescu, Eric Frances, Manuel Bandera, Emilian Oprea, Paul Cimpoieru, Cornel Brad, Valentin Popescu, Fülöp Erzsébet, Adrian Agustin, Gutierrez Canovas, Gonzalo Ruiz Lantero, Alex Dumdaca, Nando Besada, Pedro Hernandez, Jose Manuel Lucas, Alvaro de Arminan, Bogdan Crăciun, Luciano Panaitescu, Robert Zotta, Florentina Tănase, Cristina Păcurar, Liana Sărmășan, Maria Mureșan, Alina Țârcoman-Ochea, Romina Trufan, Anca Govu
Producer: Co-production Romania-Spain-Czech Republic; Libra Film / Cercanias AIE / La Claqueta PC / Evolution Films / Tito Clint Movies
Cinematography by: Marius Panduru
Edited by: José M.G. Moyano, Manuel Terceno
Sound: Julio de la Rosa
Year: 2019
Category: Feature film
Genre: Drama, Romantic
Duration: 113 minutes

70,169 – Cinepub viewers

PLOT SUMMARY

Adrian is a Romanian poet who arrives illegally in Spain in 2002. Without papers, he starts working as a night watchman in a local shop owned by Rafael. However, his life takes a turn when he meets Maria, a guitarist in a jazz band.

AWARDS

• 2020 – UCIN – “Lucian Pintilie” Award for Best Director – Tudor Giurgiu, for the film “Parking”

FESTIVALS

• 2019 – Valladolid International Film Week, Spain
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Film
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Production Design
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Sound
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Editing
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Cinematography
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Original Music
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role
• 2020 – GOPO Awards – Nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role

CRITICAL REVIEWS:

“There is a lot to laugh at in the film, with humor based mainly on jokes specific to Romania: from the appearance of the famous raffia bag loaded with food to that of thieves from… Teleorman. Of course, there is a clichéd level of humour, but many will find it relatable, because, as we know, clichés contain a large dose of truth. In fact, that is where they originate from.” – Dana Mischie, adevarul.ro

“The achievements of filmmakers in 2019 are remarkable, and many films have promoted cinematic poetics and aesthetics that have impressed not only the jury but also many film festivals around the world.” – Laurențiu Damian (at the UCIN Gala, 2020, about the winners)

“At the risk of overdoing it, I find a success in this filling, namely the induction of a distancing effect on the viewer, especially through the opposition of silent frames with the almost omnipresent soundtrack that weighs down the rest of the film.” – Călin Boto, filmsinframe.com

“If Tudor Giurgiu had taken this romantic figure of a writer and, risking demythologizing him, had seriously confronted him with the harsher realities of life as an economic migrant in Spain, perhaps sparks would have flown. But the reasons for Adrian’s presence in Spain are not economic, but literary and existential.” – Andrei Gorzo, scena9.ro

“One of the film’s greatest strengths is undoubtedly the performances of the actors. Smarandache and Cuesta are the perfect choice to play the roles of the pessimistic poet and the passionate singer, who soon come to share the screen in a captivating symbiosis (a lazy, grumpy but benevolent crocodile and his favorite bird, the flute player, come to mind as a comparison). The chemistry between them is extremely captivating and could even triumph over the renowned reluctance of Romanian audiences to go to local films.” – Ștefan Dobroiu, cineuropa.org

“The film does not seem like a Romanian film at all. Of course, MP’s (very good) cinematography contributes to this, with its framing and insistence on sets reminiscent of American independent cinema, as well as the fact that Romanian references are rare and almost nothing from the standard repertoire of national identifiers appears—admittedly, a small concession is made, when palinka is drunk, a Spanish woman chokes and coughs, surprised by the strength of the drink. Even Adrian, the main character, is not portrayed as a Romanian who has gone to Spain, but is simply an emigrant who could have come there from anywhere in the world. And the fact that it is spoken almost entirely in Spanish, although the touch of naturalism should be noted: when Adrian has a “big problem,” he instantly starts swearing in Romanian.” – Dan Pleșa, cinepub.ro

TRIVIA:

• Parking is the fourth feature film by director Tudor Giurgiu. On CINEPUB, you can also watch his short films “Audiția” (The Audition), “Un alt Crăciun” (Another Christmas), “Superman, Spiderman sau Batman” (Superman, Spiderman or Batman), the documentary “Nunți, muzici și casete video” (Weddings, Music and Videotapes) and his feature film debut, “Legături bolnăvicioase” (Love Sick).
• For director Tudor Giurgiu, this was the first time he had made a film outside Romania.
• A film adaptation of the novel “Apropierea” by Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari, the film is inspired by the author’s time in Córdoba.
• Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari’s novel was published in 2010 by Editura Cartea Românească and translated into Spanish in 2015, under the title Cercanías (Ediciones Traspies), by Elena Borrás.
• Tudor Giurgiu states in an interview for the blog of the Cervantes Institute in Bucharest that he did not want to make “yet another” dramatic film about the condition of immigrants, nor did he “set out to dismantle stereotypes”, but rather that his focus is on a completely different story — a personal one.
• The director confessed to the editors of the same blog his attraction to southern Spain. He believes that the inhabitants of that area are quite “similar, even in their jokes” to Romanians.
• Mihai Smarandache had a month to learn Spanish.
• Actors Belén Cuesta, Ariadna Gil, and Luis Bermejo are big names in Spanish cinema.
• The start of filming was repeatedly postponed from summer to fall, making it difficult for the actors to interpret the original script, which was set in the middle of summer, even though the temperature outside was only 6-7 degrees Celsius.
• The writer and co-screenwriter of the film, Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari, says: “All I can say is that the film is not very similar to the book. Tudor Giurgiu and I, when writing the screenplay, strayed quite far from the book. And I would like to say that the main credit for the screenplay belongs to Tudor Giurgiu, and when I say credit, I mean especially the fact that he greatly improved the first drafts I gave him. It was important that both Tudor Giurgiu and I agreed to keep the atmosphere of the book. An atmosphere divided between dream and reality, between the nights of Adrian, a character who doesn’t sleep at night and tries to sleep during the day, who ends up going almost 300 nights without sleep and then feels his brain starting to play tricks on him. I think that was very important, that we tried to preserve and convey the atmosphere of the novel, even though we gave up many of the characters and new characters and situations appeared.”
• The film ranked fifth at the Romanian box office in 2019. It was seen by 14,452 viewers and had total earnings of 219,445 lei.

LINES:

• “I am from Sângeorz-Băi” – Andrian (Mihai Smărăndache)
• “Women lift you up, women bring you down.” – Andrian (Mihai Smărăndache)
• “I am Romanian. But I live in Cordoba.” – Andrian (Mihai Smărăndache)
• “They say that on the night of Sânziene, the heavens open and the earthly world comes into contact with the world here.” – Andrian (Mihai Smărăndache)
• “Why did you come to Spain?” – Maria (Belén Cuestas)
• “And what about suicides? Which method works best?” – Maria (Belén Cuestas)
• “There’s another thing about Sânziene. If you roll around in the dew on the grass at sunrise, you’ll be even more beautiful and lovable.” – Andrian (Mihai Smărăndache)
• “When you’re an immigrant, you become very suspicious. You feel like everyone is taking advantage of you, that you’re working like a fool and getting paid very little.” – Andrian (Mihai Smărăndache)
• “I don’t want to die here. Every time someone calls me from Romania, I jump. Has my mother died, has my father died?” – Andrian (Mihai Smărăndache)
• “You think if you fuck her well she’ll stay with you? She’ll marry you and make you rich?” – Rafael (Luis Bermejo)

ARTICLES:

• “Parking is a poem of the night” / Interview with Tudor GIURGIU, director and co-writer of the film Parking – blogs.cervantes.es
• “Parking” (Tudor Giurgiu, 2019) – blogdefilm.ro
• Review of Parking, directed by Tudor Giurgiu, a film in which love, poetry, and humor prevail – adevarul.ro
• Parking, by Tudor Giurgiu, opens the 10th edition of the Romanian Film Festival in Barcelona – jurnalul.ro
• Tudor Giurgiu launches the film “Parking” in Iași, at the Romanian Film Days – europafm.ro
• “Parking,” directed by Tudor Giurgiu, premiered at the TIFF 2019 Opening Gala – observatorulcultural.ro
• “Parking,” directed by Tudor Giurgiu, based on the novel by Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari, “Apropierea,” opens TIFF 2019 – adevarul.ro
• “Parking,” directed by Tudor Giurgiu, premieres in Spain – rri.ro
• Director Tudor Giurgiu on Transilvania Film Festival Opening Film ‘Parking’ – variety.com
• Parking – where kitsch pulls over to the right – filmsinframe.com
• Mărin Mălaicu-Hondrari: The further you are from home, the more attentive you are to what is happening to your home – romania.europalibera.org

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