Cristi Puiu's 200-Minute ‘Malmkrog' Tackles Cultural and Political Clashings [Trailer]

Just for the fact that he directed 2006’s stone-cold masterpiece “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu,” director Cristi Puiu will always be fine in my books, even if it means releasing a film as comatose-inducing as the 181-minute murder-mystery “Aurora” or even 2016’s slow-moving but efficient “Sierranevada,” which I saw at Cannes in 2016 whilst spotting two top-tier festival directors in the same row snoozing during the 3-hour film, only to both herald it afterward in their best-of-the-year list. Did they happen to watch the film again after their deep-sleep REM? Chances are they did, at least I hope so, for the sake of their ethical standards,

With all that being said, I’m happy to share the new trailer for “Malmkrog,” the latest Puiu film, which is debuting at the Berlin Film Festival next week. Given that this is Puiu, the film clocks in at an astounding 3 hours and 21 minutes, and centers on a Christmas dinner, filled with cultural and political discussion, at an aristocrat’s mansion. The film is made up almost entirely of conversations between the guests at the luxurious household. Don’t fret, I’ve been hearing the film is worthy of its runtime.

“Malmkrog” stars Frédéric Schulz-Richard, Agathe Bosch, Diana Sakalauskaité, Marina Palii, Ugo Broussot, and István Téglás. It is not screening in competition at Berlin, but, instead, in the fest’s new competition sidebar Encounters.

Nikolai, a large landowner, a man of the world, places his country estate at the disposal of some friends, by organizing a sojourn at the spacious manor house. For the guests, among which we find a politician, a young countess, a Russian General and his wife, time passes at the manor house with rich meals, society games and by engaging in a long discussion about death and the Antichrist, progress and morality. As the discussion gradually takes shape and the various topics are broached, each of them lays out his vision of the world, history, and religion. The hours pass, the discussion becomes more heated, the topics become more and more serious, and differences of culture and viewpoints grow increasingly apparent. Whether for good reason or not, the guests end up exacerbating each other’s anxieties to the point that their conversation begins to be sorely strained. Finally, falling into the snare of their own discourse and believing that history never repeats itself, none of them is able to realize the extent of the event in which they have unwittingly come to be trapped. https://shellac-altern.org/international-sales/malmkrog