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Review: Cristian Mungiu's 'Beyond the Hills' a Brilliant Slow Burn to Hell

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“Beyond the Hills,” Cristian Mungiu’s shortlisted Oscar entry from Romania, is shot in gorgeous grey-gold widescreen. The film is set in the rural countryside, where a humble monastery dots the top of a sparse hill. When a stranger intrudes the monastery, and wreaks havoc on its order and indirectly on herself, the nature of belief systems is called into question.

By Beth Hanna
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March 6, 2013 1:06 PM
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1 Comment

Awards

The rare and glorious 35 mm "Beyond the Hills," which won the best actress prize at Cannes for its two non-pro leads, plays too long for many who expect conventional pacing and don't accept Mungiu's rigorous aesthetic, which requires that he not cut within a scene. He can trim the front or the back, but not the middle.