BEYOND THE HILLS

Romania, 2012, 156 minutes, Colour.
Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur.
Directed by Christian Mungiu.

Romania, 2012, 156 minutes, Colour.
Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur.
Directed by Christian Mungiu.

Christian Mungiu has become one of Romania’s most celebrated directors. He won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2007 for his powerful film on abortion,4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days. He made an intriguing collection of Romanian short stories in 2009, Tales from a Golden Age. In 2012, Beyond the Hills won the prize for best screenplay and the best actress award, shared by the two stars, Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur, who had never made a film before.

Beyond the Hills is based on actual events which occurred in 2005. In a Romanian Orthodox monastery in Moldavia, in the eastern part of Romania, there was the death of a young woman during an exorcism ritual. The police investigated and those taking part were found guilty of the woman’s death. This film opens up the case, highlighting the condition of the woman who died, her mental and emotional states, focusing on the role of the priest in charge who decided on the exorcism and the nuns who assisted.

Mungiu has a powerful visual style. So many of the sequences are like filmed stage action but the impact is not theatrical in the confined sense. Rather, the focus of the audience on the scene, the characters and the action in medium close-up and long takes, means that the sense of realism is heightened. We, the audience, are right there, observing the accumulation of realistic detail, and being drawn into the action. This may account for the length of the film, over two and a half hours, but for most audiences this will not matter so much because of the intense and real experience.

While the film begins at a crowded railway station and there are visits to the local hospital, most of the action is in the remote monastery, where water comes from a well, where there is no electricity but communication is made through mobile phones. The priest in charge, who may be something of a rebel against the diocese and is called Papa, is devout and manages a functioning community where the religious superior, called Mama, is a practical and motherly nun. There are several sisters and associates and the faithful sometimes come for prayer. Life is basic, there is an outreach to an orphanage in the town, but there is a good spirit in the group.

When Amina comes back from Germany to see her friend Voiticha who has entered the community, she makes a move to stay but is mentally disturbed because of her relationship with Voiticha (lesbian undertones), her loneliness in Germany, her lack of faith. She is made to confess and attend prayer but this leads to breakdown and seizures which the doctors cannot take care of. Which leads to further disturbance which the priest interprets as diabolical possession and performs rituals while Amina fasts. This has a profound effect on Voiticha, her sense of vocation and prayer.

Clearly, the priest and the community, relying on their sense of tradition as their practical ways of dealing with problems are out of their depth, not recognising the mental issues, thinking they are doing the right thing, good intentions but limited experience. The medical response is particularly harsh while the police are far more sympathetic.

Romanians have said that the film needs to be considered in the cultural context of the remote area, the traditions of the Church (which is certainly unecumenical here with the priest saying that entering a non-Orthodox deserves damnation), the isolation of groups from the mainstream, limited experience of illness and mental states.

The film is quite a powerful experience and ends with a striking moment as a truck drives past the police car on a wet morning! (Some of the subtitles are too American in their colloquial tone for such a setting: What’s up?, that’s tough! And the use of the word ‘read’ for ‘perform the ritual’ seems odd.)

1. A Romanian story? And temporary, yet origins in the past?

2. The career of the director, his awards, his particular style, interests, social concern? In the Romanian context?

3. The picture of the town, the countryside? Streets, hospital, the ordinary activities of a day in the town, children going to school…? The mud and the final shot?

4. The ministry, in the hills, the particular buildings, the church, the interiors, the rooms, for the meals? The old style? The musical score?

5. The focus on the Romanian Orthodox church? Its traditions, the authority of the priest, the role of the nuns and their associates, the faithful gathering for prayer? Prayer services? The community and its style, the meals, conversation? The keeping of accounts, running and repairs, the mobile phones but no electricity, water from the well? Knowledge and ignorance? This particular community, isolated, the bishop hesitating to come and bless the church, issues of finance and salaries, this community as something of a sect?

6. The opening, the crowd, Voichita moving into the people, seeking Alina, the longing to embrace, the suggestions about the relationship in the embrace? Alina sad, the bus ride, arriving at the community?

7. Almina’s story, the orphanage, with Voichtia, their relationship, her dependence, going to Germany, working there, lonely, coming to the convent, wanting Voichita to leave with her, the possibility of staying?

8. The sexual implications, celibacy, relationship, lesbian, conscious one not? The destructive nature of her love and dependence?

9. The community, papa and mama, the use of the titles? The community of meals, conversations, serious discussions? Prior? The practical wife and detail? Going to town, the orphanage? The manager, the younger woman wanting to join the convent, the contact with the town, charity? The regular driver and relying on him and his car?

10. The character of the priest, papa, his appearance, cassock, beard, presiding at meals, his room, the icon? The decisions about Almin? Mama and her practicality, genial?

11. Voichita, her appearance, her life, the long friendship with Almina, her joining the convent, discovering God and vocation, her prayer? Sharing in the life? Helping Almina, praying for her, stopping her response?

12. Almina, her character, vowed, her intentions, settling in to the monastery, at the meal table, her being urged to confess, the experience, the effect on her? Seizures, going to the hospital, the staff unable to help? Her going to the orphanage, the possibilities to stay, her giving everything away, back to them on the street? Her longing for Voichita to go? The mental illness, her reactions, the fasting, the exorcism, the convulsions? The psychological consequences, physical consequences? The service, her behaviour and seeming to revive, her weakness and her death?

13. The ambulance, carrying her out, taking her to the hospital? The doctor and her harsh reaction? Her condemnation of the community? The phone call from her family interrupting her work?

14. The details of life, the characters of the nuns, the nature of religious vocation?

15. The effect of Almina in the community, on the priest, on the superior, on the others, on Voichita?

16. Voichita’s experience? Finally changing her clothes, the decision, going to the chapel, Al mina’s death? Going with the police?

17. The police, the interrogation of everyone, the sympathetic chief and his not judging them? Taking the group to town, agreeing that the death was not intended, but the danger of ignorance?

18. The priest and his hopes with the exorcism, the rituals, prayer, the fasting? The critique of his behaviour?

19. Travelling to town, the camera inside the car, waiting in the vehicle, ordinary life passing by, the children going to school, the vehicle passing and the
splash on the windscreen? The ending?

20. The audience reflecting on Romanian culture, traditions, Christianity, the Orthodox church? Psychological illness? Sexual issues in a religious context? In the 21st century?