STUFF AND DOUGH
MARFA SI BANII



Romania, 2001, 91 min, color

Ovidiu, a young man from Constanta who runs his own business selling snacks and soft drinks out of his parents' apartment, wants to expand and buy a kiosk, but he doesn't have the "dough". A local mafioso offers him an impressive amount of money for an apparently simple job: he has to take a bag to Bucharest to a specific address. It seems, however, that the bag contains some "stuff" that concerns other people, too. Convinced at first that he has sold only his services, Ovidiu will understand that he has in fact sold his soul...

"Cristi Puiu's feature debut, made on what appears to be a non-existent budget, takes a close look at the underbelly of Romanian everyday life. A road movie following, for most of the time, three characters driving in a van from Constanta to Bucharest and back, Puiu's film has the look and feel of a home movie. But it is worth looking beyond the deceptive first impression for the insights he has to offer on his homeland. The film is shot almost entirely in medium close-up by a single hand-held camera placed in the back of the van and pointed respectively at each actor as he delivers his lines."

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