La Gomera aka Whistlers, written and directed by Corneliu Porumboiu - 9.4 out of 10

La Gomera aka Whistlers, written and directed by Corneliu Porumboiu

9.4 out of 10

As a nominee for the Palme d’Or, the most relevant cinematic trophy in the world – this year, we have had a premiere, The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture (and Best Motion Picture in a Foreign Language, Best Director and Best Screenplay) has been given to Parasite - http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/08/parasite-written-by-jin-won-han-and.html - , a tour de force that had won the Palme d’Or in the 2019 competition, were it had been on the same lineup with La Gomera – The Whistlers is already an established achievement and indeed, a remarkable film, with an original contribution.

The undersigned is ever more pleased with this movie, given that he has had the chance to see the writer-director on a regular basis, for he has had – probably still does – his children at the same French School where his daughter has graduated – indeed, I even wanted to approach him and the other legend of cinema – and not just local film making community – Cristian Mungiu, at the end of year celebrations, to express my admiration and probably to get a photo with them and then brag about it here, or on Facebook…my wife disapproved, saying that they surely want tranquility, to enjoy the party and not have intruders like me spoil the fun…

Vlad Ivanov is the Sacred Monster of our Film School, present in almost every relevant movie made here and in some extraordinary productions that are important for European Cinema and that of the world, especially in the case of 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/05/4-months-3-weeks-and-2-days-aka-4-luni.html - which has been included by TIME Magazine and other publications among the Best 100 Films…

Spectacular Toni Erdmann, also one of the best motion pictures made in the last decades and anytime, just as worthy as Parasite of Academy Award recognition, has also benefited from the acting of Vlad Ivanov, though in a supporting role there… http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/01/note-on-sublime-toni-erdmann.html

Corneliu Porumboiu and Vlad Ivanov had collaborated before La Gomera on the set of Police, Adjective, another formidable movie - http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/note-on-police-adjective-written-and.html

In The Whistlers, Ivanov portrays Cristi, a narcotics detective that is under lands on the island of La Gomera, where he is met by Kiko, a Spanish member of a drug network, who takes his phone, takes him to a rather luxuriant accommodation, where he joins the resplendent Gilda aka talented Catrinel Marlon.

With great skill, Corneliu Porumboiu offers a succession of tableaux, segments in which we are introduced to the various characters and we are also invited to place the pieces of the puzzle together, to try to understand who might come on top, if one or the other of the protagonists would be killed and who would be the winner, or winners, if any…

In a recollection of the main character, he thinks back at the moment when he has met Gilda, as she came to him in front of his house, embraced him and tried to start a conversation with him, only to be warned that he is under surveillance, they have cameras in his flat too, so he is reluctant, nay, hostile to the idea of continuing this communication, but the bold, intrepid woman takes him to his building, explains the plot…she would be a high class prostitute that he meets with, she has to take out 200 lei to supplement the only 300 he holds in his wallet, to make it credible, for she is so gorgeous that to have paid sex for less would attract the attention of the investigators…

Indeed, as she walks in, she behaves as if she knew the place and gives off one detail that shows the outfit had done its homework – they would later talk about it and the officer would ask her how did she know about a painting and his mother and she explains that she had gone to her house with one of the gangsters and they had talked with the mother, ready to use her and information found there to blackmail the detective into helping them in their contraband and/or accidents that happen in their illegal doings…

This is why he is in La Gomera, where he has to learn an ancient whistling language – hence the Whistlers – for which he is not ready to begin with, for his breathing power is not sufficient and Koko says that he has to swim, and not in the pool by the splendid villa, but in the ocean, to be ready for the language that they are supposed to use when they try to work around the jailing of one of the Romanians involved in the drugs mafia, Zsolt, who has to be taken out of prison, kidnapped would be the idea, though for some time it looked like it would be simpler if they had him killed, especially when the plot thickens and we find that he had wanted to run with the money and the ring leader, Paco, had wanted to eliminate him and Gilda, who seemed to have been in cahoots and when pressed, she confessed…

Kiko seems to be willing to cover for the spectacular woman – the puzzling thought is why would such a glorious beauty get into something like this when she only needs to get on the catwalk and have a substantial income…however, it is true that she is not likely to get millions in the fashion industry, if she is using only her looks…I guess – but he is pressing, harassing and ultimately abusing her physically to have coitus with him and she would not have that, though she had had sex with Cristi, in the role of the high end prostitute, back in Bucharest…once on the Spanish island, she has told him that it would not happen again…but will it?

The story gets ever more complicated, as it suits such a movie – though why it is also described as a comedy, it may be difficult to explain, though not impossible, given that many situations are indeed amusing…for instance, somebody is killed (well, many are in a narrative about vicious mobsters) and the detective is present at the crime scene and wants to go across the forbidden perimeter saying he is ‘narcotics, only to be rebuffed and told ‘this is a crime scene and that means no trespassing’, only to gain access, because this is what happens in a permissive society, where rules and laws are bended from top down – though we have a president that is 1,000 times better than the cretin that sits in the White House – once a colleague would see him and say…’okay, but just go along the extremity there, will you…’