Cand vreau sa fluier, fluier ( If I want to whistle, I whistle ), released in 2010 and directed by Florin Serban, was awarded the Jury Grand Prix and the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. It tells the poignant story of Silviu Chiscan, a young delinquent from a broken and highly dysfunctional family.
"The movie was entirely filmed inside a detention centre and offers a stark image of prison life, with its violence, its taunts, and its tense drama."
The movie was entirely filmed inside a detention centre and offers a stark image of prison life, with its violence, its taunts, and its tense drama. Silviu’s mum runs to Italy and leaves him and his brother Marius to fend for themselves. Struggling to look after his younger brother, whom he dearly loves, Silviu commits all sorts of petty crimes and is ultimately sent to a juvenile detention centre.
Nine days before the completion of Silviu’s four-year sentence, Marius visits to inform him of their mother’s return to Romania. Apparently, she has made it clear that she wants to take Marius to Italy. While walking towards the prison exit, Silviu experiences a meltdown at the thought of losing Marius. Not willing to let his younger brother leave without a fight, Silviu phones his mum , with the help of a fellow prisoner, and pleads with her to pay him a visit.
When the two come face-to-face, Silviu’s hatred towards her is as raw as ever: “ Nu iliei peastamic cu tine caitirup gatul !” (I will break your neck if you take the little one with you!). In an expletive-filled conversation, which turns physical, Silviu threatens his mother and makes it clear to her that he really means what he says. Desperate to get out of prison earlier, Silviu beats up one of the guards and takes a psychology student hostage. He demands to see his mother and makes her swear she is will not take his brother away . After, he asks the prison director to get him a car, as he wants to have coffee with his hostage. It is a desperate attempt to experience some of the things that he will never again be able to enjoy. The two have coffee, and then Silviu keeps his promise and surrenders.
The movie was entirely filmed inside a detention centre and offers a stark image of prison life, with its violence, its taunts, and its tense drama. The language accurately reflects this environment : a deeply distressing , and disturbing place replete with jail slang and expletives. The cast, though not made up of professional actors, does a terrific job of documenting and capturing the mood of prison life. However, it is George Pistereanu’s interpretation of Silviu that truly stands out. For a college student, with no formal training in acting, the flair with which he exposes teenage angst, rendered dysfunctional by a deadbeat mum, is worthy of accolades.
