Politist, adj. (Police, Adjective) (2009)

Critic Reviews

• Cary Darling, Dallas Morning News

  An absorbing and contemplative detective story in which the high point of the action involves reading from a dictionary. Really.

• Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

  Porumboiu's style is steady, observational, his camera tracking Cristi along the streets in much the way Cristi tracks his subject.

• Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

  I suspect that those versed in the arcana of Romanian politics will get the most out of this movie, but its moral issues, revolving as they do around matters of rightness and repression, are certainly universal.

• David Denby, New Yorker

  Simultaneously a police procedural, an analysis of language and imagery, a philosophical debate about law and justice, and a very, very dry Romanian Martini -- so dry that, at first, one doesn't quite taste much of anything.

• Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

  In its own way, this is one of the most intense cop movies you'll see.

• J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

  [A] low-boiling but addictive story about a young police detective who's begun to question the justice of the drug laws he's enforcing.

• Phil Coldiron, Slant Magazine

  A major film, and a troubling one, a key piece of the Romanian New Wave finally makes its way to home video.

• Allan Hunter, Daily Express

  Intellectually and aesthetically Police, Adjective is a film of merit but that doesn't make it any easier to endure.

• Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total

  Un viaje a través de los laberintos del poder y de la burocracia, con una economía narrativa que, por más que ponga a prueba la paciencia del espectador, luce plenamente al servicio de su anécdota.

• Derek Malcolm, This is London

  It's one of those films which, on its placid but pointed surface, seems to be about nothing very much but manages by its end to tell us a great deal.

• Alistair Harkness, Scotsman

  Sadly, the film does little more than illuminate the audacity of a film-maker intent on testing the benevolence of his audience by presenting them with nothing of interest to watch.

• Philip Kemp, Total Film

  The insidious humour and fascination with moral quandaries keep it consistently engrossing.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  This whole film is very "police": that is, not exciting or dramatic, but suspicious, cynical and exhausted.

• Jason Woods, Little White Lies

  Complex, intellectually rigorous and yet incredibly enjoyable on multiple levels.

• David Parkinson, Radio Times

  Porumboiu's film is proof that a police procedural can be compelling even without the genre's usual maverick sleuthing or combustible action.

• David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

  A riveting slice of Romanian new wave drama, haunted by shadows of the Ceausescu era and never less than thought-provoking.

• Dave Calhoun, Time Out

  Necessarily infuriating but finally very rewarding.

• Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

  A "police procedural" with a difference: the policeman hero refuses to proceed.

• Ian Buckwalter, DCist

  Porumboiu's minimalist style can be a chore to sit through at times, but part of the film's brilliant innovation is how it manages to be so rich while expending as little effort as possible.

• Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

  There's something comic about cops writing dictionary definitions on a blackboard. But there's a tragic undertone as well, because those in power get to define what those words mean.

Read all 20 critic reviews