A 3rd great film from Romanian director Cristoph Mangiu

The Romanian director Cristian Mungiu now has three fine movies available for English-language viewers, the most recent being Graduation (2016), on Netflix. If you want films with action, thrills, A-list stars, and a powerful score, he is definitely not the director for you; but his films all have a high literary and dramatic value, powerful and well-crafted plots that focus on ordinary people facing and confronting real crises, an incisive look at contemporary life in present-day Eastern Europe, great pacing, subtle editing, and terrific use of ambient sound throughout - each a masterpiece (the others: 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days; Beyond the Hills) in its way, making me think that someday he (like the Dardenne brothers) should be considered for a Nobel prize (why Bergman never got one is yet another Nobel committee disgrace). Graduation centers a middle-aged doctor in a loveless marriage (he sleeps every night on the couch; his wife seems to be ill in some manner not explained, and is a constant smoker); their daughter is about to finish high school and mus pass some rigorous finals to receive a scholarship to study in Cambridge. The father (Romeo is his name!) is obviously over-involved and over-identified with his daughter's success; as he explains to her in one of the many powerful scenes, he and his wife have sacrificed so that their daughter can have more opportunities in life - even if it means she will be far from them. En route to final days of class, the daughter is attacked by a man who attempts to rape her - or so she says, though there are some ambiguities and discrepancies in her report. The father worries that she will perform poorly on her exam, and sets about trying to get her some accommodations; ultimately he pulls strings and sets it up so that her test booklet will be "pulled" and she will get a pass. This bit of corruption - and we see throughout that life in this culture constantly involves payments and payoffs and favors earned and returned - leads to various family crises, arguments, and threats that test the moral fiber of everyone, especially the father/doctor. The whole narrative unfolds as a series of scene, most of them involving just 2 speakers, seen in long-take closeups - the power of this film comes not from is showmanship but from the language and the gradually building tension around a man in crisis, almost like an Ibsen or Chekhov play. Not for every taste, but Graduation is by any measure a great film.