Outdoor Cinema I ODRA-PANY I “La Gomera” dir. Corneliu Porumboiu

Unpredictable, fast-paced, and constantly changing its genre disguises, “La Gomera” twists and misleads its narrative trails like an exceptionally cunning fugitive. This crime comedy directed by Corneliu Porumboiu surprises with its inventiveness, amuses with its absurd humour, and above all proves that anyone who takes themselves deadly seriously is simply ridiculous.

The master of the Romanian New Wave thus takes us on a holiday from seriousness – and not just anywhere, but to La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands. It is here that a corrupt, gloomy cop from Bucharest (Vlad Ivanov) arrives to learn the secret local whistling language, el silbo. Thanks to it, Cristi can communicate with the mob and plan a kidnapping by whistling right past the police wiretaps. The Romanian’s teachers become a local gangster and a mysterious, dark-haired femme fatale (Catrinel Marlon), who could not be missing from a story that masterfully seasons its blend of crime, comedy, heist movie, and western with a handful of brilliant references to film noir. Indeed, it is the women who pull the strings of this unusual tale of cops and robbers.

“La Gomera” cleverly builds a comedy about a cynical policeman entangled in a double (or is it only double?) game, using numerous references to do so. Evoking the “Ocean’s” series while boldly juggling quotations from the masterpieces of Hitchcock, Hawks, and Ford; referencing “Gilda” with Rita Hayworth as well as the famous paintings of Edward Hopper, Porumboiu’s film is a celebration of its own language. A language with which one can talk about the world without resorting to clichés, and in which humour exposes the pompous solemnity of all structures and institutions – whether it be the ritual-bound mafia, the bureaucracy-addicted police, or a Hollywood that blindly replicates the commandments of genre.

Free admission.