Sieranevada spends nearly three hours mostly through conversations and a memorial ceremony in just one family apartment. That wouldn’t be a problem, if all the members were likeable and if they shared at least some warmth for each other. Except, given the conversations circling around the 9/11 conspiracies, the former monarchy, and communism, it’s not really pleasant. But rather than excusing us from this family gathering, writer-director Cristi Puiu takes it to examine Romanian society as a whole, acutely observing the ways through which each member tries to navigate their dynamics, despite all the ideological struggles the country has gone through. Sieranevada finds a bridge to these heavy topics through a familiar family set-up.
"It's a highly persuasive portrait of family life, replete with intimacies, special alliances, tensions, resentments and reconciliations, but also a revealing study of how that may reflect developments in the wider world."
— Geoff Andrew
"Those familiar with Puiu's work might not be thrown by his patient approach, but the ponderous technique takes no prisoners for the uninitiated."
— Jason Gorber
Back from a professional trip to Paris, a neurologist at the pinnacle of his career has to pick up his wife so that they can attend a family meal to commemorate his father, who died a year before. At his mother's flat, the guests are waiting for the priest to arrive while arguing about all kinds of things connected and unconnected with the world’s events and wars.
