In his latest effort, Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu makes a bit of a left turn from his previous efforts with a twisty, fun crime noir that is ready to be embraced by the mainstream. Porumboiu eschews some of the high-mindedness that accompanied his contemplative Police, Adjective and nurtures the accessibility that started shining through in The Treasure. In The Whistlers, he takes the Steven Soderbergh method of injecting an independent mind to bigger concepts. Armed with an eclectic soundtrack and an inventive hook, The Whistlers takes the well-trodded genre of crime noir and injects a new sense of excitement from a director equipped with an arsenal of inventive techniques. Add in a seductive femme fatale that steals the show, and you have an effective offbeat thriller.
At the center of our tale, we have Cristi (Vlad Ivanov), a veteran police detective who has become disillusioned enough to agree to dip a toe into criminal enterprises after some very effective negotiating from the beautiful Gilda (Catrinel Marlon). Gilda has been tasked by a group of mobsters to recruit Cristi into assisting them with springing a corrupt associate out of prison. The twist in this tale is that, in order to do this, he must travel to the Canary Islands to learn the native whistling language of Silbo Gomero. It is said that the crew will be able to deliver coded messages during the escape while authorities only believe they are hearing the sound of birds. While this may sound a bit unbelievable, this is a real-life language native to the island of La Gomera. The criminals who baked up this plan may be a bit on the paranoid side, but the conceit makes for some really interesting sequences both in learning the language and putting it to use. There is $30 million on the line if they can successfully pull of their plan, but Cristi is more motivated by the thought of “rescuing” the lovely Gilda.
The movie is broken up into several different parts with title cards to let the audience know which characters are pulling focus. As with any proper heist film, there are a lot of moving parts with a deep bench of interesting characters. On the criminal side we have the big boss, Paco (Agustí Villaronga), and various underlings who, along with Gilda, assist Cristi in learning the language. Back at home, Cristi’s boss Magda (Rodica Lazar) is becoming increasingly suspicious of where Cristi’s loyalties actually reside, and she may be more complex than she appears at first blush. Outside of all of this we have Cristi’s mother (Julieta Szonyi), whose actions reveal just how lonely he may have been before this whole confluence of events took over his life. All of these individuals are bringing these characters to life beautifully, but the core of the movie hinges on the relationship between Cristi and Gilda, which never seems as plausible as the movie wants us to believe. There are a lot of curveballs present as we build toward the riveting finale, but that lack of chemistry hampers the overall picture just slightly.
The Whistlers has so much style and pays homage to the films that served as building blocks for it in movie history. The film lovingly plays with the established norms of capers such as this one, but also subverts them in fun and interesting ways. The one way it falls into the trap of similar films is by failing to give Gilda enough agency to be much more than an destination point for our male lead. Catrinel Marlon is absolutely sizzling in this role, and having her character more fully formed would have elevated this from a fun, globetrotting romp to something a bit more substantial. The film has its issues, but that does not keep it from being a worthwhile crime flick that is just subversive enough to keep things fresh. Porumboiu has crafted a visually sumptuous movie that reveals that auteur filmmaking can make its mark even in the most mainstream stories.
Video Quality
The Whistlers comes to DVD with a 480p transfer that is quite beautiful for the format. While Tudor Mircea’s stunning cinematography is practically screaming for a high definition Blu-Ray presentation, this DVD offers up an impressive amount of detail. Compression artifacts are present without being overwhelming. Black levels are quite strong with only a minimal amount of blocking. Colors are nice and fairly vibrant, especially on the visually lush island where the training occurs. Skin tones look natural, and there are some decent facial details present. This presentation is just about as good as a DVD can look.
Audio Quality
The DVD provides the original language track, which is a mixture of Romanian, English and Spanish, as well as a dubbed English-only track. Both of these tracks are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. For the sake of cinema, please avoid the English-only track, as it takes away the richness of the original spoken word that these actors nailed perfectly. The titular whistling is a auditory treat coming through the speakers. The movie is sonically very subdued for the most part besides the soundtrack and some action beats that cap off the film. Gun shots are placed accurately within the mix and are appropriately hefty. Dialogue is crisp in clear within the center channel of the mix. This is never overpowered by the music that pops up frequently within the film. Environmental sounds such as wind add a dynamic touch to the proceedings. Overall, fans of the film should be very please by the audio presentation.
Special Features
- Deleted Scenes: There are just shy of eight-minutes of unused sequences from the film. The pacing of the film is excellent so I cannot argue that these should have been included in the final product, but all of these scenes are worth checking out. There is a particularly clever scene in which Cristi proves he is under surveillance that is fun to watch, but this was communicated just as well through dialogue.
Final Thoughts
The Whistlers takes a much-traveled genre and breathes new life into it through subversive plot developments and a wry tone. The film lacks electricity between the core characters, but that is only a slight problem in an otherwise solid crime tale. Magnolia Pictures Home Entertainment has provided the best A/V quality that DVD can offer along with some fun deleted scenes. Those looking for an inventive caper should definitely check this one out. Recommended
The Whistlers is currently available to purchase on Digital and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the DVD.
Disclaimer: Magnolia Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
