Tuesday, After Christmas

Director: Radu Muntean
Year Released: 2010
Rating: 3.5

A married man (Mimi Branescu) is having an affair with a (younger) dentist (Maria Popistasu), keeping the secret from his wife ... until one day he decides to break it to her, and eventually moves out. The construct is basic, but the way it plays out is pure acting and effectively minimal scripting: it feels good to finally say a film comes across like a really fantastic stage play and not insult either medium. Branescu's internal warfare is evident in his far-off gaze and the scene where he reveals to his plain, rather taciturn wife about his indiscretions, she goes through the entire range of emotions expected of someone who's having her life ripped apart (it probably helped that Branescu and on-screen wife Mirela Oprisor are married in real-life). I was also taken aback by the almost too-simple ending - I was expecting some kind of twist (like the mistress no longer wanting her lover to move in with her) ... but Romania isn't Los Angeles.