Romanian Film Review: Y, The Story of Pogány Induló, 3 Days in September

Autumn is finally here, which means the many new releases are lining up in cinemas and streamers are keeping up.

Maria Popistașu and Alexandru Baciu’s Y is now available on HBO Max after its theatrical run in summer. Certainly the most beautiful film of the year, it’s also one of its most intriguing. In a Bucharest bubble of privilege, a family unravels after the matriarch passes away and her potentially horrifying acquisition of said wealth is questioned. Well, sort of, because it’s just one member of the family that struggles: the oldest granddaughter, stoic and unreadable Olga. In the 1990s, her grandmother worked with orphans and facilitated adoptions, but the unchecked process had much darker sides: was it an act of saving them or trafficking them for organs? The failure of state and authorities is such a sombre topic that the film suddenly inserts disturbing archive material of abused children in orphanages. A jarring choice, as if the elegant form and bourgeois setting cannot express it otherwise. And so, Olga’s stylishly curated life threatens to be destabilised.

There is so much to like about the film, from its perfectly choreographed group scenes, moments of humour and vulnerability laced with excellently delivered sarcasm, jabs at unchecked privilege, elegant, unhurried flow, the matter-of-fact treatment of homosexuality (Olga has a female partner, a fact that seemingly does not faze anyone). And above all the aforementioned beauty, a protagonist in its own right: with its perfect and perfectly coloured frames, exquisite interiors and best dressed protagonists. But this is also where is gets frustrating: the conflict is so serious and the film remains strangely shy of giving it more depth, preferring to avoid the horrors of ethical questions and staying within the safe, comforting realm of beauty. The avoidance is very much in step with Olga’s journey, and the mere suggestion of moral corruption is enough to make the perfect picture crack, but I am torn between understanding the approach and finding it a bit too comfortable. Still, a very much recommended watch from my side.

HBO Max has also been showing Meant to Be – The Story of Pogány Induló, which is also an HBO production and I am thrilled to see a new documentary from the region. Director Olivér Márk Tóth follows Marcell Szirmai as he rises to fast and huge success as a rapper with the eponymous stage name when he is barely 17. The following few years unfold as a very personal journey of mega stardom, struggles with alcohol and pushing one’s limits, but also with great tenderness and humour (the grandmother is a scene-stealer). Marci is self-destructive, impulsive, at the same time assured, eloquent, emotionally aware and sometimes more mature than some ‘grown-ups’. No surprise he is a star; he also carries the film.