The Whistlers
Gangster Tales: crooked cops, femmes fatales, and shotgun weddings
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1h 37m
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu • 2019 • Romania
Romanian New Wave icon Corneliu Porumboiu heads for the Canaries in this playful, genre-bending crime thriller. Bucharest police captain Cristi (Vlad Ivanov) is caught in a trap of his own making – under investigation by his bosses for his corrupt dealings with the gangsters he is meant to be investigating. When femme fatale Gilda (Catrinel Marlon) enters the scene, Cristi finds himself drawn into a complex web of dirty dealings and double crosses on the Canary Island of Gomera, where he must learn a tribal language consisting entirely of whistling. Porumboiu’s command of deadpan humour is on full display in this inventive neo-noir concoction that blends absurdism with sharp political bite.
THE WHISTLERS • LA GOMERA
Written and directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
Cinematography by Tudor Mircea
Starring: Vlad Ivanov, Catrinel Marlon, Agustí Villaronga
In Romanian, Spanish, and El Silbo with English subtitles
Nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival 2019
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