Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Lawbolisted Powerful

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Bryan Kluger Calin Peter Netzer's very somber film 'Child's Pose' is a dark character study of the relationship between a mother/wife and her family. I'm sure we all know someone in our family who tries to control every little detail in everyone's lives, and will go to the end of the world to find out the smallest details on their loved ones. At times, this can come across as comical, but most of the time it comes across as an annoyance, which can scar any relationship, even though the 'patriarch' of the family has good intentions.This Romanian film sure made a buzz recently at certain film festivals around the world, even scoring some awards. Hell, it was even selected for to compete in the Oscar race, but was ultimately not nominated for the Foreign category. Needless to say, 'Child's Pose' is receiving some high critical acclaim, which currently holds a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But, this film is not a feel-good two hours. There doesn't seem to be one good and decent person amongst our cast of characters throughout most of the run-time. Sure there is a hint of these characters being redeemed, but it is very subtle and too short, given the circumstances of the events that occur.We see the film through the eyes of Cornelia Keneres (Luminita Gheorghiu, excellent), a 60-year old family woman, who is seen smoking a cigarette with her sister, talking about a man who doesn't love her, verbally abuses her, and even has pushed her out of a car. We soon find out that this is not an ex-lover, but her only son, Barbu (Bogdan Dumitrache). Cornelia lives a life of luxury with her husband, who "is like putty" in her hands at all times. Even to a fault. Barbu seems successful and lives with his girlfriend Carmen and he daughter from a previous relationship, which Cornelia turns her nose up at. Cornelia and her son's relationship is not a good one to say the least, as Cornelia is still trying to dictate and control his life, even though he is in his mid-thirties. She even goes as far as to ask her maid to spy on her son and give her information. Enjoying the high-society perks, Cornelia is abruptly told that her son has been in an automobile accident where he killed a young teenage boy crossing the highway.Corneila and her sister switch gears and head to the police station where Barbu is being questioned. We see Cornelia quickly verbally attack the police for questioning her son without a lawyer and even tell hims what to write in his statement as not to incriminate himself, even though he was driving too fast. Instead of justice and truth, Cornelia will pay off any witnesses and even police to prevent her son from doing prison time. Meanwhile the family of the deceased kid lives in the poor part of town, doesn't have any powerful influences, and are pretty angry at the whole accident. As the story progresses, we see Cornelia push her family away even more, especially her son, as she tries to steer this accident from involving any wrong doing of Barbu.We quickly see that she is not the only one looking to bribe people as the witness wants to extort her for $100k, and even the police want to use her to keep things quiet. All of this is to prove in her own way that she loves her son, which is not accepted or returned. This leads up to a very emotional climax where Cornelia and Barbu are supposed to meet with the family of the deceased. Netzer is trying to tell us a story about redemption, forgiveness, and family. Be it warts and all. But there are times where things get a bit awkward. For instance when Cornelia in her nighties massages with lotion her son's back. The camera angles and pacing here really seemed like it was going into a sexual territory that I didn't want it to go into. Luckily it didn't, but there was some definite tension there.Luminita and Bogdan are excellent in their roles, specifically Luminita. Even though she is mostly the antagonist in this movie, we still feel for her. Her struggle to let go of her son and take his verbal abuse is shown in her body language and eyes perfectly. It's a very realistic portrayal of a flawed upper class family life. Despite a slow pace and very somber feel, 'Child's Pose' is a good film.

dipesh parmar Romanian director Calin Peter Netzer's 'Child's Pose' is a drama about a rich, dysfunctional family in Bucharest, where one incident unravels the very fabric that holds them together.Cornelia (Luminita Gheorghiu) is the controlling mother who dominates this film, an architect with the right connections thanks to her businessman husband Aurelian (Florin Zamfirescu). She is estranged from her son Barbu (Bogdan Dumitrache), and blames Barbu's girlfriend Carmen (Ilinca Goia) for this separation. In fact, she spends most of her time bemoaning everyone in her family, completely blinkered to the fact that she's probably most at fault for creating such a hideous family structure.Barbu gets into serious trouble which will most certainly change his life, but how much depends on him and his family. He seems set on doing the right thing and pleading his guilt, as we would all hope. But Cornelia railroads her way to the front to play the devoted mother, closely followed by her sister-in-law, Olga (Natasa Raab). We see Cornelia the operator, manipulating the situation and dictating the lives of all concerned. She struts around in her fur coat, telling the police what should be done, namedropping others within her elite circle of Bucharest society, so that she gets what she thinks she's entitled to.Our distaste for Cornelia grows exponentially, such is her lack of remorse and disregard for all around her as long as "my baby" is not harmed. Everything she does has an ulterior motive, even her maid is wary of any communication she has with her. To witness the presence of Cornelia involves being undermined by her, with hidden meanings and veiled threats, all to illustrate who is in charge. Such is her need for control and maintaining standards, she even dictates the novels that Barbu should be reading. Of course, her sole aim is to get Barbu back for herself, she's not remotely interested in his life and his partner and couldn't care less about his predicament. Barbu knows the more his mother is involved the harder she will make her life. He probably prefers a life in jail just to get away from his scheming mother!As with other recent Romanian films such as 'Beyond the Hills', '4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days', and 'The Death of Mr. Lazarescu', 'Child's Pose' poses difficult questions in a Romanian society finally free from the Ceaușescu regime. This film is all about class, entitlement, and how one tyrannical system has been replaced by one thats just as bad for the majority. Gheorghiu is superb as the monstrous Cornelia, joining an ever- increasing list of mothers from hell in film. Just like the aforementioned films, 'Child's Pose' is gritty and occasionally heavy-handed but you have to admire its intelligence and single-mindedness.

Roland E. Zwick A haunting slide-of-life drama from Romania, "Child's Pose" explores the strained relationship between a middle-aged mother and her adult son, set within the context of an unspeakable human tragedy. Cornelia Keneres, portrayed with masterful understatement and restraint by Luminita Gheorghiu, is a haughty, emotionally aloof woman who, nevertheless, just can't seem to cut the cords that bind her to her only child, Barbu (Bogdan Dumitrache). Barbu, of course, resents his mother's endless interference in his life, an interference that is only intensified when he tragically runs over and kills a 14-year-old boy who's crossing a freeway on which Barbu is driving recklessly. Because Barbu seems devoid of initiative in trying to make things right with both the legal system and the family of the victim, Cornelia launches into full Mama Bear mode, lavishing large sums of money in her wake as she attempts to clean up the life-shattering mess her son has made for himself and others. Is Cornelia now paying the consequences for treating her son as a child for so long? Is that why he now finds himself unable to step up to the plate and accept responsibility for his actions as a mature adult should?Filmed in a wholly realistic and naturalistic style, "Child's Pose" is about as far from melodrama as a movie about life-and-death issues could possibly be. There are no grand speeches, no emotional outbursts springing from the tragic events of the story. The movie makes us feel as if we are eavesdropping on these people as they go about the business of trying to make sense of an entirely senseless situation. As such, we get to witness first-hand the agony and grief, the bitterness and guilt, and the thirst for redemption that the various characters are going through. As embodied by the extraordinary Gheorghiu, Cornelia becomes a fascinatingly complex character made up of any number of inconsistencies and contradictions. For instance, she's constantly deriding Barbu for not being a man, for making a mess of his life and not fulfilling the hopes she and his father had for him when he was younger. Yet, it is her very insistence on meddling, mothering him and stepping in to solve all his problems that is the key factor in making him this way. And is she truly moved by the concerns of the grieving parties or is she motivated more by the fate of her own son and the guilt she might be feeling for the way she raised him?Flawlessly written and directed by Cailin Peter Netzer (with Razvan Radulescu as co-writer), the movie ends on a powerful note, one that hints at the barest possibility for reconciliation and redemption for the individuals involved. It's a largely wordless moment, heartbreakingly silent and obliquely shot, and it is a moment that will linger long in the memory of anyone who sees it.

brixtonbathtub For many non-Romanians this film will be quite difficult to follow because the high speech content means subtitling is only briefly on screen and has to be read very rapidly, all the more difficult when it is on a lower off-screen subtitler as at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival just now. Sometimes I had to choose between reading text or viewing the image. Nevertheless, I found the portrayal of the self-obsessed control freak mother trying to get her somewhat pathetic son off the hook rather laboured. When two characters were conversing the hand held camera swinging from one to the other made me feel like a linesman sitting by the net watching the ball at a Wimbledon tennis match. This was either an intended 'artistic' device or they couldn't afford two cameras. If the former, it failed, and if the latter they should have considered old fashioned cutting and editing. I came to this film predisposed to Romanian cinema having seen the remarkable Somewhere in Palilula last year. I wouldn't describe Child's Pose as a boring European film, as one reviewer put it, but simply as a boring film, with the proviso that I may have missed its finer points due to the language barrier. How it won a Golden Bear at Berlin is one of those intrigues whose story may still be waiting to be told... Anyone care to find out and make a film out of it?