TORONTO — The title of Cristian Mungiu’s previous film, “RMN” – MRI in Romanian – is an apt metaphor for what Mungiu aims to do in his films.
Since his seminal 2008 abortion drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days,” the Romanian filmmaker has loosely based his meticulously realistic films on true events and used them to explore the larger social forces that shape our world. No one will admit that this is not the easiest way to make a movie.
“RMN,” for example, was based on a 2020 incident in which Sri Lankan migrant bakery workers were harassed in a rural Romanian village. The tradition captured a familiar global conflict involving immigrants and xenophobia. The film even recreated a town hall meeting in 17 minutes of uninterrupted footage, which you can find on YouTube.
“I don’t like writing scripts where I try to invent a story based on ideas,” says Mungiu. “My effort is to understand what is happening around me.”
Mungiu’s latest film, “Fjord”, is based on a real episode that happened in Norway in 2015. Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve play a Christian couple with five children who immigrated to Norway from Romania. They are warmly welcomed by a progressive rural community, but their traditional and religious habits come under increasing scrutiny until their children are captured by the state.
The film, which was released in theaters on Friday by Neon, received critical acclaim. In May, it won the Palme d’Or, marking Mungiu’s second grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Romania has since selected “The Fjord” as its Oscar nominee for best international feature film.
But “Fjord” is also something extraordinary. The rare art film that asks uncomfortable questions of its largely left-leaning audience. Mungiu himself is politically liberal, but “The Fjord” dramatizes a progressive insularity and sanctity that he sees as rivaling the characteristics of the far right.
“The far left behaves the same way,” Mungiu said over coffee in a recent interview. “They are confident that they stand for the truth. All you will do is divide society to the level of division it has today. We do not live in society. We live in bubbles on different banks of the same river.”
“That’s what this movie does bravely,” he adds. “He talks and says things we all feel but don’t have the courage to say out loud.”
Like previous Mungiu films, “The Fjord” is shot from an objective, seemingly neutral point of view. But as the family’s case progresses through the Norwegian legal system, Mungiu appears to question whether liberal Scandinavian society is punishing the Gheorghiu family for allegedly slapping a child or scrutinizing fundamentalist Christian practices.
Mungiu hoped his film, his first set outside Romania, would hit a nerve.
“Absolutely. That was our goal,” he says. “But it’s better than we expected.”
Yet the interest in “Fjord” has brought with it what Mungiu calls a misinterpretation of his intentions. Some even labeled it a “MAGA movie,” but Mungiu and his stars pushed back on that statement. According to Mungiu, there needs to be a space in cinema that goes beyond preaching to the choir.
“This does not mean for a moment that I promote the conservative view of the world,” says Mungiu. “But today, as a filmmaker, it’s considered a great sin if you don’t use your energy to make a film directly against that. Most of the films people produce today are for or against something. These films don’t create a dialogue. No one will watch them except the people in this bubble. The film confirms to them that they’re already on the good side. The others are to blame.”
While playing “Fjord” at film festivals, Mungiu emphasized that this story could take place in any liberal society. He believes that the same evolution of leftist ideals in Europe and the United States is part of what fuels political polarization.
Addressing progressives, Mungiu says, “Show a little more understanding.” “Try to be less dogmatic. The general habit is to label people. But you act like you are smarter. I have higher expectations from you.”
“It’s a bit dangerous,” he adds, referring to Romania’s 20th-century history. “I come from a communist background where someone else knows what’s good for you better than you do.”
The increasing interest in “Fjord” makes the 58-year-old director a little nervous. He knows this is partly due to his stars’ fans and the Palme award; None of this, he notes, says much about a film’s value. He admits that “RMN”, considered a criminal, is more deserving of the rewards than “Fjord”.
But Mungiu also thinks the film carries a vital, even urgent message. When “Fjord” won the Palme, Mungiu said in his acceptance speech that society had become “radicalized,” with one side judging the other and no longer communicating, split down the middle. He described his film as “a commitment against all forms of religious fundamentalism”.
“It will be very dangerous if we continue like this,” he says. “We saw in the United States that we are seconds away from a major conflict, like a physical conflict, between these two groups. We need to do something while we still have time.”