Malmkrog (West Coast Premiere)

Cristi Puiu’s most recent film is a three-in-one project: it is an adaptation of Vladimir Solovyov’s Three Conversations, a period drama beautifully recreating the turn of the twentieth century, and a philosophical symposium. Divided in 6 parts—one for each protagonist—this study of the well-mannered, yet intellectually fierce and, at times, condescending, theoretical debates, present a “slice of life” that froze in its eternal futility. Only years before WWI, in an aristocratic manor somewhere in Transylvania, the wealthy businessman Edouard, the landowner Nikolai, the young and naïve Olga, the mature and ironic Madeleine, Ingrida—the wife of a Russian general—and the butler Istvan exchange ideas on war and peace, good and evil, religion, identity, and politics. Malmkrog is a grand feast for the eye as it is for the mind: the abundance of visual details is matched by the dialogue packed with hard concepts. Winner of the Encounters Award for the Best Director at Berlin Film Festival, Cristi Puiu declared that his film is “prophetic.”

On Nov. 15 at 11am PST there will be a live Q&A with film critic Monica Filimon, author of "Cristi Puiu: Ineffable Experiences of the Profane World". This talk will be LIVE on this page at that time, and will be automatically recorded and added to the end of the film playlist for later viewing.