Un Pas in Urma Serafimilor aka One Step Behind the Seraphim, written and directed by Daniel Sandu - Eight out of 10

Un Pas in Urma Serafimilor aka One Step Behind the Seraphim, written and directed by Daniel Sandu

Eight out of 10

Many more entitled men and women have declared this motion picture relevant, accomplished, remarkable and indeed, it went on to win the local Oscars for Best Feature film, Directing, Screenplay, Actor in the Leading Role, Supporting Role and a few more.

On the issue of Vlad Ivanov we agree, although there is little to compare him with – this cinephile has not seen yet the competition at work, the other films nominated – and this actor is already a giant, iconic figure and as good as anybody else in the cinematic world.

The film itself has definite merits and it could be outstanding and this note affected by the known phenomenon called ‘too great expectations’, this viewer has heard about it only expressions of awe – his own spouse had been mesmerized in the cinema theater – where here were only a handful in the audience alas – and stated ‘she could have watched this for hours, were it longer.

Perhaps it is a gem, but the acting is not overwhelming, with the notable, gigantic exception of Vlad Ivanov as the mischievous, mephistophelic priest Ivan and to a much lesser degree, some of the other, younger actors involved.

Granted, this is an immense task, to stand up to the sacred monster and most of the artists in the cast are so young that we could imagine most of them to be debutantes and we can forgive their lack of experience, often-amateurish interventions, and awkward interpretations.

The motion picture has one giant merit in that it exposes the life of the aspiring priests, with the many shortcomings, quite of a few of the failures, the corruption, the lack of sublime motivation, perverse determination that animates many of those who are supposed to be just about as pure as Christ.

The aspiring priests that are at the center of the story are not in any way worse than the usual student, but in their case, the rules are different, for they are expected to marry as virgins, to obey strict rules that forbid them from becoming regular customers in night clubs and so on.

Perhaps it is late to confess that the under signed is not just an atheist, but very much infuriated by the dogmatic, pretentious, retrograde local leaders of the predominant faith, the Christian Orthodox and their preposterous patriarch, who drives in an all telling, opulent, inadequate and in opposition to the precepts of the bible Maybach.

That limousine costs perhaps $ 500,000!

With that amount and the exorbitant maintenance needed, the massive insurance involved, they could feed a few thousand, only that is evidently not their priority, if we consider than on top of this luxurious, devilish life they have, they have spent a fortune on a new cathedral.

There are churches everywhere here, between apartment buildings, in the most unlikely places and there are more than enough for all those who want to attend service, but not plenty to satisfy the greed, the vanity and vain characters of those sinners.

We get to see frequently news about one or another clergyman involved in one or another sexual, financial - sometimes both – scandals…recently, there was the photo of this priest who has bought a Maserati, yet another super expensive brand, while the poor people in his parish had made efforts to put their hard earned coins in the box for the poor, which is now obvious were used to sooth the vanity of the monster in sheep clothing.

In the movie, we see the powerful Ivan abuse his power, demanding statements from the students, with promises that if they put in writing declarations that would condemn others, everything would be fine, and all would be forgiven, only to expel those he wanted.

This man is not an absolute monster- or at least he appears to have some human traits, which could very well be the disguise he is using to cover his claws, potentially his tail – for there are some moments when he shows mercy, such as the one where he can see that the papers he has in front have been falsified, but he does not act – for that instance – with all the power of his office to destroy Gabriel, arguably the hero of the feature.

Officials of the institution are corrupt, from the head down – this is one feature of this society, wherein a few months ago, the dragon of corruption had been finally sent to jail, Alhamdulillah, but his cronies are still at large, his daughter in law has just bought another supercar, a Lamborghini- but Ivan seems to lack this quality, compensating with other monstrous traits.

In fact, the complicated priest proposes a bargain at one point, in which he promises – without getting too much credit initially, given his history of many broken promises – in which one student would not be expelled, but only if he writes in a complaint about the money that his rich family had given to officials in the Council of the Establishment.

One Step Behind the Seraphims is thus a film with many merits, but also flawed, with an outstanding actor towering and casting a shadow over the other members of the cast.