Aferim! (2016)
87%RT Audience Score: 75%
Awards & Nominations: 23 wins & 8 nominations
Smart, visually arresting, and scathingly funny, Aferim! depicts a world that many American filmgoers have never seen — but will still, in many respects, find utterly familiar
Aferim! is a hilarious and eye-opening film that takes a look at the enslavement of the Roma people in 19th-century Romania. Shot in black and white, the film feels like an ancient newsreel, but with a modern twist. The witty and sharp humor cuts like a knife, making it a perfect reflection of the film’s title – Attaboy! The characters are eccentric and absurd, but ultimately the film is a brutal portrait of late-Feudal Europe. It’s a must-watch for anyone who loves a good historical comedy with a touch of misanthropy.
Production Company(ies)
Altavista Films, Zeta Film
Distributor
Big World Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Macin Mountains, Tulcea County, Romania
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2016
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 45m
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Language(s):Romanian, Turkish, Romany
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Country of origin:Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Romania
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 22, 2016 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 14, 2017
Genre(s)
Western/Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Teo Corban, Mihai Comanoiu, Toma Cuzin, Alexandru Dabija, Luminita Gheorghiu, Victor Rebengiuc, directed by Radu Jude, written by Radu Jude, Florin Lazarescu, Western, Comedy, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Peter Keough, Leah Pickett, Tom Long, Soren Andersen, Bill Goodykoontz, Stephanie Merry, Scott Nye, Nicholas Bell, Steve Erickson, Armond White, Marius Panduru, Dolby Digital, produced by Ada Solomon, MPAA rating, slavery, Romania, adventure, racism, sexism, black and white, wide-angle long shots, theatrical approach, 19th-century, Big World Pictures
Worldwide gross: $350,110
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $431,510
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,775
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 47,057
US/Canada gross: $108,110
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $133,245
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,619
US/Canada opening weekend: $15,892
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $19,587
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,520
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): 1250000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $1,540,623
Production budget ranking: 2,054
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $829,626
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$1,938,739
ROI to date (est.): -82%
ROI ranking: 1,900
Mihai Comanoiu – Ionita
Toma Cuzin – Carfin Pandolean
Alexandru Dabija – Iordache Cindescu
Luminita Gheorghiu
Victor Rebengiuc
Director(s)
Radu Jude
Writer(s)
Radu Jude, Florin Lazarescu
Producer(s)
Ada Solomon
Film Festivals
Berlin
Awards & Nominations
23 wins & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (1)
The tone is Rabelaisian and earthily comic in the minimalist, picturesque squalor of the settings.
June 7, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Peter Keough
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
With a title that translates roughly as Attaboy!, this engaging and percipient period comedy focuses on the enslavement of the Roma people in 19th-century Romania.
May 26, 2016
Leah Pickett
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Somehow director Radu Jude’s decision to film in black-and-white only heightens that sense of reality: It’s as if the film is some ancient newsreel.
March 28, 2016 | Rating: B
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
Shot in stark black and white, the picture’s sense of place and time is strong – pungently so.
March 24, 2016 | Rating: 3/4
Soren Andersen
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
It’s a tough world out there, and Costandin has found a way to survive in it. It’s not always pretty, but in “Aferim!” it’s never less than interesting.
February 25, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
Shot in black and white with fade-out transitions, the movie harks back to classic westerns. But it’s also distinctly modern.
February 11, 2016 | Rating: 3/4
Stephanie Merry
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
As such, the title – at once jolly and sharply condemning – is a perfect reflection of the tone of the film, which uses its sharp wit and laughs like a knife.
January 7, 2021
Scott Nye
Battleship Pretension
Eccentric, absurd, and ultimately a brutal portrait of late-Feudal Europe, Aferim! is a deservingly lauded calling card for Radu Jude in his increasingly formidable filmography.
September 30, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
Yet another film about how superior we are to those awful racists from the 19th-century.
June 28, 2016
Steve Erickson
Brooklyn Magazine
Aferim! is the opposite of a cultural celebration. It uses startling, hilarious misanthropy to portray Eastern Europe’s immoral legacy – a hapless, dissolute, pusillanimous culture that has bequeathed the region a cynical present.
June 27, 2016
Armond White
National Review
Although he’s taking on a complex historical time…Radu Jude has made a very entertaining film…Marius Panduru, shooting long takes in b&w 35mm, achieves the illusion of a mittel-European Western rediscovered decades after its release.
May 31, 2016 | Rating: B+
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
Jude keeps his camera at judicious distance, but its grit sets it apart from the stern minimalism of most contemporary Romanian filmmaking.
May 25, 2016
Ray Pride
Newcity…
Plot
A local policeman is hired to find a runaway slave, leading to a journey full of adventures in the smart, visually arresting, and scathingly funny Western/Comedy, Aferim!.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
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