Polițist, adjectiv
Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania | 2009 | 115 min
Language : Romanian
Subtitles : French, English
Young detective Cristi is surveilling a teenager suspected of drug trafficking. Convinced that the law is unjust, he hesitates to make the arrest, afraid of ruining the boy’s life. Porumboiu targets the bureaucratic inertia of post-communist society in this striking film noir, poised between philosophical reflection and caustic black humour, in which every word carries weight.
Three years after the success of his political satire 12:08 East of Bucharest, winner of the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2008, Porumboiu turns his sharp eye toward Romanian police ethics, exploring the moral dilemma of Cristi, a young policeman. Tasked with tailing a teenager suspected of dealing drugs, Cristi begins to hesitate: should he really send this boy to prison, as his superiors demand? Gradually, doubt sets in—about his mission, his role, and the very meaning of his profession in a Romania undergoing rapid transformation.
Departing from both the conventions of the crime genre and the absurdist humour of his earlier work, Porumboiu crafts a philosophical film noir that probes the power of language and the authoritarian impulse to fix its meaning. Police, Adjective transforms the police station into a stage for verbal and bureaucratic jousting, where action can only happen when common definitions are agreed upon—or by submitting to that imposed by the powers in place. With this film, Porumboiu delivers his most biting and cynical work to date.
James Berclaz-Lewis
Departing from both the conventions of the crime genre and the absurdist humour of his earlier work, Porumboiu crafts a philosophical film noir that probes the power of language and the authoritarian impulse to fix its meaning. Police, Adjective transforms the police station into a stage for verbal and bureaucratic jousting, where action can only happen when common definitions are agreed upon—or by submitting to that imposed by the powers in place. With this film, Porumboiu delivers his most biting and cynical work to date.
James Berclaz-Lewis
The Whistlers, 2019
Infinite Football, 2018
The Treasure, 2015
The Second Game, 2014
When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism, 2013
Police, Adjective, 2009
12:08 East of Bucharest, 2006
Liviu’s Dream, 2004
A Trip to the City, 2003
Telephone Number Temporarily Suspended, 2002
Gone with the Wine, 2002
Love … Story, 2001
Graffiti, 2000
Infinite Football, 2018
The Treasure, 2015
The Second Game, 2014
When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism, 2013
Police, Adjective, 2009
12:08 East of Bucharest, 2006
Liviu’s Dream, 2004
A Trip to the City, 2003
Telephone Number Temporarily Suspended, 2002
Gone with the Wine, 2002
Love … Story, 2001
Graffiti, 2000
Screenings and tickets
Thursday 10 April 2025 15:45
Usine à Gaz 1, Nyon
Trailer
Screenplay
Corneliu Porumboiu
Photography
Marius Panduru
Editing
Roxana Szel
Sound
Alex DragomirSebastian Zsemlye
Production
Corneliu Porumboiu
