Taking place in early 19th century Wallachia, Radu Jude's Aferim! tells the story of Costandine, a local policeman, who is hired by a local noble to find Carfin, a Gypsy slave who has run away after being caught in bed with the nobleman's wife, Sultana. With his son by his side, Costandine sets out to find the fugitive and return him to the nobleman. Radu Jude's Aferim! is a film that defies conventional genre conventions, using black humor to touch on serious questions about personal responsibility, the relative nature of morality, and prejudice. Much of Aferim! running time is centered around the father and son's odyssey to track down Carfin. Running into an eclectic mix of people from various nationalities and beliefs, Costandin views this odyssey as a chance to teach his son the ways of the world, commenting on nearly every situation they come across with vigorousness, hoping to educate his son on the ways of the world. The story of Aferim! captures the relativity of morality through this father and son relationship, showing a man in Costandine who is much more indoctrinated to how things work in the world. While Costandin waxes poetic about the truism's of this harsh world of slavery and violence, his son takes on a more contemplative perspective, questioning some of the morals of this world, which particularly comes into play when the father and son eventually capture Carfin and are faced with returning him to the nobleman, who will surely punish him severely. Through this relationship, Aferim! demonstrates the need to evolve in society, with the son beginning to question the barbarianism of the world he inhabits, a character who is a symbolic representation of intellectualism. Given its comedic elements, Aferim! tone is never overly dark, but the matter-of-fact nature of the various barbaric acts throughout the film make their presence felt, being emotionally-cold sequences as the matter-of-fact nature expresses how common this type of barbarianism was in this world these characters inhabit. An aura of humanities need to distinguish themselves hangs over the film, with man's desire to segregate due to superiority, whether through class, religion, race, being another major reason for the emergence of slavery. From a direction standpoint, Aferim! is shot in black and white and features some beautiful photography, but I particularly liked the filmmakers use of wide shots, keeping a camera mostly at a distance, forcing the viewer to observe and listen to these character and their actions instead of simply waiting for the obvious emotional cues that never come. Radu Jude's Aferim! is a Romanian Art-house film that uses black humor to dissect moral relativity, barbarianism, and intellectualism, doing so in a way that helps contextualize the roots of racism and violence in history, oh and hey, it's surprisingly fun.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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