Politist, adj. (Police, Adjective) (2009)
78%RT Audience Score: 68%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Shorn of any manufactured drama or pyrotechnics, Police, Adjective is an absorbing procedural that finds its thrills in the patient bureaucracy of police work
Police, Adjective” is like watching paint dry, but in a good way. It’s not your typical action-packed cop movie, but it’s full of bone-dry humor and subversive filmmaking that will keep you interested. The camera moves at a snail’s pace, but it’s intentional and adds to the film’s overall ennui. It’s a procedural piece that leads to nowhere, but that’s the point. If you’re looking for a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this isn’t it. But if you’re in the mood for something intellectually and aesthetically stimulating, give “Police, Adjective” a try.
Production Company(ies)
Miramax, A Band Apart Jersey Films,
Distributor
IFC Films
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
2009
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 50m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 23, 2009 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 30, 2011
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
police, adjective, drama, Romanian, Corneliu Porumboiu, Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu, Ion Stoica, Marian Ghenea, Cosmin Selesi, produced by Corneliu Porumboiu, written by Corneliu Porumboiu, reviewed by Philip Kemp, Andrew Sarris, Joshua Rothkopf, Derek Malcolm, Anthony Quinn, Peter Bradshaw, Mattie Lucas, Steve Erickson, Martin Tsai, Dave White, Allan Hunter, Enrique Buchichio, directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, box office gross $48.3K, IFC Films, MPAA rating, procedural, post-Communist Romania, drug peddlers, pot-smoking teenagers, bureaucracy, police work, patient, absorbing, bone-dry deadpan humor, intelligently subversive, tedium, stake-outs, complex story, protagonist, questioning, right or wrong, new regime, old habits, cold, industrial, slow-paced, moody, heavy with dialogue, long takes, real-time narrative, stake-outs, dictionery, words, meanings, moral uncertainty, career, superiors, jeopardizing, suspicions, friend, brother, witness, testimony, drug bust, supplier, police officer, detective, criminals, following suspects, paperwork, patience, characters, audience score 60%, Tomatometer 79%, 76 reviews, 1h 50m
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Vlad Ivanov – Anghelache
Irina Saulescu – Anca
Ion Stoica – Nelu
Marian Ghenea – Prosecutor
Cosmin Selesi – Costi
Corneliu Porumboiu – Director/Producer/Writer
Director(s)
Corneliu Porumboiu
Writer(s)
Corneliu Porumboiu
Producer(s)
Corneliu Porumboiu
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (76) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (16)
Certainly there’s little here to detain Michael Bay fans, but anyone who appreciates bone-dry deadpan humour and intelligently subversive film-making will find plenty to raise their interest – if not their adrenaline level.
July 10, 2018
Philip Kemp
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
The film proceeds at Detective Cristi’s pace, stopping and starting, hiding and emerging, scanning and staring, as the languid camera surveys the dismal neighborhoods with undisguised ennui.
June 20, 2013
Andrew Sarris
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 2/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It’s one of those films which, on its placid but pointed surface, seems to be about nothing very much but manages by its end to tell us a great deal.
October 6, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
October 1, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Anthony Quinn
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
This whole film is very “police”: that is, not exciting or dramatic, but suspicious, cynical and exhausted.
September 30, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
[Porumboiu] uses words to his advantage, and makes a fascinating film built around the idea of words themselves, and a deep, moral un-certitude that arises in the face of moral certainty.
August 5, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
The film is so carefully structured that its narrative seems to emerge haphazardly, almost unconsciously. Only in retrospect is director Corneliu Porumboiu’s degree of craft apparent.
March 8, 2018
Steve Erickson
Gay City News
Much like “Zodiac,” “Police, Adjective” is a procedural piece that leads to nowhere.
October 7, 2015
Martin Tsai
Critic’s Notebook
April 4, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Dave White
Movies.com
Intellectually and aesthetically Police, Adjective is a film of merit but that doesn’t make it any easier to endure.
October 11, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Allan Hunter
Daily Express (UK)
Un viaje a través de los laberintos del poder y de la burocracia, con una economía narrativa que, por más que ponga a prueba la paciencia del espectador, luce plenamente al servicio de su anécdota.
October 7, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total…
Plot
In post-Communist Romania, young detective Cristi is assigned to bust a group of pot-smoking teenagers based on one boy’s testimony, but he believes the witness is setting up his friend and tries to scrap the case, jeopardizing his career and fueling the suspicions of his superiors in Police, Adjective.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t provide any goofy or funny comments about Police, Adjective.
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