REVIEW: ‘The Whistlers’
Photo: Vlad Ivanov and Catrinel Marlon star in The Whistlers, a Magnolia Pictures release. ©Vlad Cioplea. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures / Provided by press site with permission.
The Whistlers, a new crime thriller from director Corneliu Porumboiu, is a bizarre tale of police officials, their accomplices and a bunch of gangsters leading complicated lives of double-crosses and secret meetings. The actual heist at the center of the narrative is somewhat difficult to figure out, but the plot takes a backseat to the characters, which are fascinating, to a person, and should keep audiences riveted for the full 97 minutes.
Cristi (Vlad Ivanov) is the central character, a police investigator who doesn’t speak much but finds himself embroiled in mess after mess after mess. He has a corrupt chief as a direct supervisor, and his desire to stay somewhat above the criminal fray almost never works.
Still, for a man of little words, he gets a lot done. Within a few minutes he has been taken in by Gilda (Catrinel Marlon), a mysterious figure who is the subject of more than a few predatory eyes throughout the movie. The two work together to pull off a major heist in the Canary Islands, and they’re little secret is the shared knowledge of a whistling language called El Silbo Gomero, which helps the communities of the islands communicate across long distances.
Throughout the Romanian film, which is playing a limited engagement at New York City’s Film Forum, there is an obvious love and admiration for the art of cinema. The entire neo-noir setup is clever and reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock and the contemporary François Ozon.
The settings are also dreamy. The Canary Islands simply look beautiful in their desolate, tucked-away paradise, and the director is able to seamlessly move between the uncertain waters of this Spanish outpost and Bucharest, where Cristi calls home. The transition between the two places is immediate, sometimes causing the viewer to be disoriented in when the action is taking place and where the story is located. It’s best to let oneself be immersed in the narrative flow and not get caught up on any single plot point or time element.
The performances are effective. There’s an understated brilliance to Ivanov’s deadpan police official, and Marlon is complex and surprising, never hinting to the audience which side she prefers in this criminal tug-of-war. The scene stealer has to be Rodica Lazar’s Magda, Cristi’s corrupt superior. She is willing to do anything to have an upper-hand on the secret dealings of the mobsters around her. She nonchalantly asks Cristi and an associate to plant cocaine on a suspect, and she finds Cristi’s reluctance to do so irritating. But she doesn’t skip a beat and instead turns to the associate and has him do it.
Porumboiu is in full command of his story and his characters, and the multiple languages, both spoken and whistled, add a unique cultural element to a crime thriller that oozes cool and secrecy.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Whistlers (2019), directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, stars Vlad Ivanov, Catrinel Marlon and Rodica Lazar. In English, Romanian and El Silbo Gomero with English subtitles. Running time: 97 minutes. Rating: 
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