La Gomera
Corneliu Porumboiu
France, Romania, Sweden, Germany | 2019 | 97 min
Languages : English, Romanian, Spanish
Subtitles : English, French
Cristi, a disillusioned and corrupt police inspector, embarks with the ravishing Gilda on a highstakes heist, navigating treachery and deception. Silbo Gomero, a secret whistling language spoken on The Canary Islands, could be just the ticket they need to pull off their caper. For his first film shot outside of Romania, Porumboiu signs an absurd and impeccable film noir.
In 2009, Porumboiu cast actor Vlad Ivanov in the lead role of Police, Adjective. He played Cristi, a character full of candour and hope. Ten years later, Ivanov reprises the role in The Whistlers, but the world has changed, and Cristi no longer believes in anything. Corrupt and disillusioned, he is adrift, caught somewhere between paranoia and love.
Though The Whistlers was never conceived as a direct sequel to Police, Adjective, it marks Porumboiu’s first film made outside his home country, his native language, and his usual cinematic framework. Yet his preoccupation with language as a political instrument remains central. Silbo, the ancestral whistled language of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, emerges as both protagonist and secret code, enabling this richly layered film to shift fluidly from crime thriller to western, and even to musical comedy. With deadpan seriousness, the cast throw themselves into scenes that flirt with the absurd and the burlesque, much to our viewing delight. A gleefully offbeat film that reaffirms Porumboiu’s deft command of language—and of cinema itself.
Anne Delseth
Though The Whistlers was never conceived as a direct sequel to Police, Adjective, it marks Porumboiu’s first film made outside his home country, his native language, and his usual cinematic framework. Yet his preoccupation with language as a political instrument remains central. Silbo, the ancestral whistled language of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, emerges as both protagonist and secret code, enabling this richly layered film to shift fluidly from crime thriller to western, and even to musical comedy. With deadpan seriousness, the cast throw themselves into scenes that flirt with the absurd and the burlesque, much to our viewing delight. A gleefully offbeat film that reaffirms Porumboiu’s deft command of language—and of cinema itself.
Anne Delseth
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
Trailer
Screenplay
Corneliu Porumboiu
Photography
Tudor Mircea
Editing
Roxana Szel
Sound
André Rigaud
Production
Alejandro ArenasJanine JackowskiMaren AdeBenoît QuainonPatricia PoienaruJim StarkAnthony MuirSean Wheelan
