Tuesday, After Christmas

This drama from director Radu Muntean and co-screenwriter Razvan Radulescu (who also worked on The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) offers a clear-eyed look at infidelity and the resulting dissolution of a family. Banker Paul Hanganu (Mimi Branescu) and his lawyer wife, Adriana (Mirela Oprisor), are a comfortably middle-class couple with a 9-year-old daughter, Mara (Sasa Paul-Szel), living in a seemingly stable, loving household. But Paul is having an affair with Mara's beautiful dentist, Raluca (Maria Popistasu), and scenes of the illicit lovers alternate with intervals showing the Hanganus at home and elsewhere. When Paul finally reveals his adultery in the middle of the holidays, the fallout is painful, honest, emotionally messy, and very uncomfortable—as human as cinema gets (especially since Branescu and Oprisor are a real-life couple). Despite a brief release after a strong showing in festivals worldwide and excellent reviews, Tuesday, After Christmas is not well known—even to many foreign film fans—although viewers should be aware that the film features explicit nudity and sexuality, handled in a matter-of-fact way. A fine example of the flowering of Romanian filmmaking that began in the 2000s—after decades of Soviet-imposed repression—this is recommended for more adventurous collections. (S. Axmaker)