Cristian Mungiu's Graduation is a quietly tragic tale of paternity, detailing the extreme lengths one man goes through for the sake of his daughter's perceived well-being. Romeo Aldea is a physician living in the small mountain town in Romania, a father, who has raised his daughter Eliza with the intention of her leaving this country to study abroad in the UK. Eliza has won a scholarship to study psychology, leaving her father very pound, with the last step in the process being that she passes her final exams, a formality for such a gifted student. On the day before her first exam, tragedy strikes, with Eliza being sexually assaulted, a heinous act which could have serious repercussions for her entire future. With Eliza facing much emotional strife and trauma that has left her somewhat despondent, Romeo makes a decision to protect his daughter at all costs, one which finds the man jeopardizing his own morality, going against the vary principles which he taught his daughter. Cristian Mungiu's Graduation is a story about one father's inability to let go, detailing a man in Romeo who is unable to view his daughter as a character with her own free will. Mungui paints a portrait of a man who still sees his daughter as needing his guidance, unable to recognize that she is old enough to make her own decisions. Romeo goes to great lengths to protect his daughter's future, even jeopardizing his own in the process, committing sacrifice after sacrifice for her, yet he never even questions what his daughter wants, wrapped up in protecting her from what he perceives could destroy her future. Romeo is a character who is so headstrong about his daughter making something for herself outside of Romania that he never even grants her the independence to make her own decision, sacrificing not only his morals to protect her but also his daughters at times, convincing her that sometimes one has to play against the rules to succeed. As the film progresses, Romeo's world begins to crumble around him, with his desire to help is daughter clouding his own judgement, reaching the point where he finds himself rejected by those he loves in the process. He is so wrapped up in helping his daughter that he never even fathoms asking her what she herself wants, with his deteriorating morality eventually leading to a tragic conclusion. A tragic tale of the lengths a man is willing to go for his daughter, Cristian Mungiu's Graduation is a greek tragedy, detailing a man who ends up sacrificing his entire future for his daughter, a situation which could have been avoided if he showed more willingness to accept her independence.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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