In order to qualify for European aid, an industrial bakery in Ditrău, a townof 5,000 inhabitants in northern Romania, had to look for five additionalemployees in 2020. Because no one in the region was willing to fill the low-paid jobs, the management decided to bring workers from Sri Lanka. That wentdown the wrong way with many residents of Ditrău. The town’s pastor even fileda protest petition with 1,800 signatures.
The essence
- ‘RMN’ is the new film by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, who won the Palme d’Or for the abortion drama ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’ 15 years ago. * ‘RMN’ is based on a diverse fact about a town in Transylvania that reacts violently to the arrival of workers from Sri Lanka. * Mungiu wants to examine the complex relationships and frustrations of the region. ‘RMN’ means something like MRI, the device for making scans. * Mungiu also sees the film as a representation of the challenges in Europe in general. * ‘RMN’ is a fascinating, ambiguous and often virtuoso portrait of a community.
A blatant example of racism, but the situation was much more complex. And notjust because those Sri Lankans followed the example of so many Romanians:leaving their native region to earn more money in a foreign country. Thesetting was also more than symbolic. Ditrău is located in a part ofTransylvania where many people of Hungarian descent live, a population groupthat is a minority in Romania. ‘You would think that such a minority wouldadopt a tolerant and open-minded attitude towards people in need of an evensmaller minority. That turned out not to be the case,” director CristianMungiu noted.
Tensions and frustrations
He saw the incident as a perfect opportunity to broach much larger themes andto examine a complex situation. The title of his remarkable new film, ‘RMN’,also means something like MRI, a machine for making scans. Mungiu approachesthe story from two characters. Matthias is a Romanian man who works in aslaughterhouse in Germany and returns headlong to his home in Transylvaniawhen his young son has a traumatic experience. Csilla is a former flame ofMatthias and runs the bakery that angers some of the residents by hiringforeign workers.
Around these characters, Mungiu delicately weaves all kinds of tensions andfrustrations, from racism and sexism to nationalism and class distinction.Mungiu refuses to take any clear standpoints or draw conclusions, although heregularly highlights how petty and pathetic it all is.
“In the end we are doomed to live together,” he says. ‘You can’t changehistory. Take that nationalism. We will never settle the discussion about whothe original inhabitants of a region are. In Transylvania, the longstandingconflicts between Romanians and Hungarians still exist, in various forms.Completely ridiculous and sometimes really funny.’
Mungiu immediately adds that ‘RMN’ is definitely not a story that focuses on aremote corner of Romania. The discussions, problems and excesses he cites canalso be found in other countries. “It wouldn’t be fair to point the finger atTransylvania,” he says. “Xenophobia is not the exclusive fault of oneethnicity. We all have butter on our heads.’
Dialogue
Globalization has certainly increased tensions in countries such as Romania.Mungiu does not deny that this evolution has brought benefits, but the coinalso has a downside. “We have more freedom to go where we want,” he says. Butglobalization has also created fear and uncertainty. Moreover, the changes arehappening faster than smaller and more traditional communities can follow.’
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The job of cinema and art is to talk about the things we prefer to avoid ineveryday life. “
Cristian Mungiu
Director ‘RMN’
This is particularly apparent during the (unparalleled) central scene of thefilm, a large meeting in the city’s banquet hall. Mungiu lets the discussionrun for 17 minutes. Everyone talks in different languages at the same time.Yet you can perfectly follow what is going on.
The half-baked and politically incorrect arguments that characters make soundall too familiar. But that’s why we shouldn’t just brush them off, saysMungiu. ‘The job of cinema and art is to talk about the things we prefer toavoid in everyday life. Those arguments and clichés and lies exist. Politicalcorrectness and cancel culture will not make them disappear. We have to listenand enter into a dialogue.’