Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Graduation Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 27, 2018

Winner of Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Cristian Mungiu's "Graduation" (2016) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original U.S. trailer for the film; exclusive video interview with Cristian Mungiu; deleted scenes; and footage from a press conference. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Bilge Ebiri's essay and technical credits. In Romanian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The scar has almost faded away.

All of Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s feature films are conceived in the exact same manner and with the exact same objective in mind. They introduce individuals from different social groups and through their unique stories extract raw fragments from his native country’s past and present reality. The key word in this short summation of Mungiu’s work is raw. He does not overdramatize, politicize, or simplify the material so that international audiences have an easier time digesting it. He identifies the right stories and then presents them on film as best as he can.

The events that are chronicled in Graduation take place in a provincial Romanian town that has not changed much since the end of the communist regime. The majority of its residents still live in decades-old panel buildings, there are endless streets and back alleys that no one has bothered to fix, and on the outskirts of town there are entire areas that are still completely dark at night. In fact, the town’s ancient power grid has deteriorated so badly that the local authorities have been forced to initiate mandatory blackouts. These awful living conditions are one of many reasons why Dr. Romeo Aldea (Adrian Titieni) wants his daughter Eliza (Maria Dragus) to do brilliantly on her final exams. If she gets the right grades she will secure a generous stipend from a prestigious British university and therefore earn a chance to leave the misery behind and start a normal life abroad. The alternative, which is to have Eliza stay in Romania for the rest of her life, is unacceptable to Dr. Aldea because over the years he has seen enough and is fully convinced that even a few generations after his the country will still be stuck in the same transitional mode. If Eliza can leave Dr. Aldea will also be able to overcome the inevitable collapse of his family, which is something that his seriously ill wife (Lia Bugnar) has come to terms as well. For some time now she has known that he is seeing a former patient but they have agreed to stay together so that Eliza can focus on her studies and earn her stipend. So this year’s graduation cycle will determine not only Eliza’s future, but also how her parents feel about the fast-approaching end of their marriage for the rest of their lives. With only a few days before the first exam, however, a series of unexpected events dramatically alter the views and goals of each family member.

The family drama is observed through Dr. Aldea’s eyes and he gradually becomes the litmus piece that exposes the true nature of life in contemporary Romania. The big picture that emerges isn’t pretty. Basically, the film confirms that the corrupt system that the communist regime established has been reformed and continues to serve well a lot of the same people that benefited from it during the Ceausescu era. The only profound change is the opportunity that young people like Eliza get to leave the country without fearing for their life. The rest amounts to minor cosmetic economic improvements that are instantly negated by wide ranges of inherited social issues. (During one of his conversations with Eliza, Dr. Aldea actually details precisely how he and his wife bought into the manufactured illusion that the country was undergoing a proper transformation which inspired them to relocate to the small town where their marriage fell apart).

The other interesting revelation that the film offers is that the generation of older Romanians that experienced the communist regime and then again suffered while their are unintentionally setting up their sons and daughters for a very similar life of bitter disappointments. Why? Because they are promoting an idealistic view of the West which is every bit as misleading and harmful as the one that the generation before their passed on to them and inspired them to believe that in a few years their country will rebuild itself and they will live the lives that they could not have while Ceausescu ruled them.

Graduation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cristian Mungiu's Graduation arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"The film was completed in a fully digital workflow. It features a fully digital soundtrack. The 5.1 surround audio for this release was mastered from the original digital audio master files using Pro Tools HD.

Postproduction supervisor: Bogdan Dimitru/Cinelab, Bucharest.
Colorist: Claudiu Doaga/Cinelab."

The film looks fabulous in high-definition, though given the nature of its production I don't think that this is actually surprising. (Director Mungiu's previous film, Beyond the Hills, was shot at different locations, but is another visual stunner on Blu-ray). Detail, clarity, and depth have that very solid consistency that current digital technology already makes easy to deliver and this is the type of rock-solid visual quality that the Blu-ray replicates. Colors are very natural and wonderfully balanced. Image stability is outstanding. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Graduation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Romanian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Because the film uses a fully digital soundtrack, what you are getting on the Blu-ray is essentially a replica of the original mix that was created in the studio. Predictably, clarity, sharpness, and depth are outstanding. (See the scene where apartment window gets broken early into the film). The dialog is stable and always easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report.

Graduation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original IFC Films trailer for Graduation. In Romania, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• Cristian Mungiu - in this new video interview, director Cristian Mungiu explains how he chooses the right story/project that is consequently developed into a feature film, the important connection between the emotional and socially relevant themes that must give his next film its structure, the many issues that impacted his generation and their representation in his work, the production of Graduation and its socially relevant themes, the reasoning behind his decision not to judge its characters, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Bucharest in 2018. In English, not subtitled. (30 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scenes - a collection of deleted scenes. In Romanian, with optional English subtitles. 9 min, 1080p).
  
  1. The Dog
  2. A School
  3. Chief Inspector and Eliza
  4. Eliza and Marius
  5. At the Hospital
  6. Romeo is thinking
  7. At the Railway

• Cannes Film Festival - presented here is a filmed press conference with director Cristian Mungiu and actors Adrian Titieni, Maria Dragus, Malina Manovici, and Rares Andrici, which was held at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. In multiple languages, with audio translation. (42 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Bilge Ebiri's essay "Where Are You, Romeo?" and technical credits.

Graduation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The generation of older Romanians that witnessed the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu and then gradually became disillusioned with the reformation of their country as they realized that they are running out of time to have the lives that they had dreamed of are doing just about everything right to ensure that their sons and daughters have pretty much the same miserable lives. In this new cycle, the only difference will be that the majority of these young Romanians will suffer away from their home country. Cristian Mungiu is absolutely right to highlight the problem in his latest film because he understands that the people of his generation are operating with the same damaging idealism while pushing their children to 'make the right choice' and go West as did those of the generation before them when they guaranteed the emergence of a prosperous democracy only a few years after the collapse of the communist regime. Criterion's recent release of Graduation is sourced from a very solid master and has a wonderful exclusive interview with director Mungiu. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.