Câmp de Maci (Romanian/English/French) [Poppy Field]

Poppy Field is mainly a film about things unsaid. Based in Romania, where open homosexuality is not still acceptable, this film takes inspiration from a real life incident by making a fiction story around it. This film is actually very different from a lot of stuff that I have seen, and I have seen a lot. What starts probably a usual gay love story, soon becomes story of one of the leads who is still too embarrassed about his sexuality. Given that he is a cop doesn't help matters.

Cristi is a cop in along distance relationship with Hadi who is visiting him from France. After a passionate time together, we see there is clearly difference in expectations that the two men have of each other and the relationship. Rather than spending time with Hadi, Cristi decide to go back to work. Cristi along with his colleagues are sent a movie theatre where a conservative group has interfered with the screening of an LGTB-themed movie. Among the audience is one of Cristi’s former lovers, who recognizes him and confronts him. Annoyed and afraid, Cristi hits him and this is where the troupe begins. Cristi's anger doesn't subside and his friends try to support him and be with him, each in their own way tries to diffuse the situation and come and talk to him about multiple life experiences. Eventually the situation is sorted and they all go back home.

Even though the story may sound simple, there is so much that's happening here. You really have to watch things very closely. First of all, the film is shot in multiple single take long shots, which must have taken a lot of effort from both the cast and the makers. The opening sequence between Cristi and Hadi gives us an impression that what makes perfect sense sexually for Cristi is also something he struggles with ideologically. Even when his sister visits him, you can sense the discomfort in his behavior. He seems to be a very very private person. When Cristi is caught between the rift in the movie theatre, he stands back for a while , I guess trying to figure out and make sense of where he stands in the whole dispute but when the guy recognizes him Cristi panics and lashes out. Following sequences include multiple of his colleagues coming and talking to him about details of what's happening out and has that guy said anything to anyone. To a regular viewer, these sequences may feel irrelevant, and to be honest for a while, I was also like wtf! But the more I paid attention, my assessment is that Cristi's colleagues know that he is gay. And Cristi knows they know but no one wants to take about it. Based on the conversations thatchy have, you can tell who accepts Cristi’s sexual orientation and who doesn’t just by what they say or don’t say. A colleague comes and shares a long drawn dog story, implying just that he is there for him. The whole sequence can be very frustrating to watch but I think this was something very unique for me. But this can also be its biggest drawback. I feel a lot of people watching the film will get very bored and/or frustrated after first 30 minutes. 

The biggest USP of this film is to concentrate on the dynamic at work rather than that of the relationship. The acting by Cristi and his colleagues is really good and given there are single, long drawn shots, it speaks a lot about Cristi's ability to understand the arc of his character, which is very important to keep a film like this together. The film doesn't offer solutions but it does show Cristi taking one step ahead when he doesn't; t hesitate to eventually call Hadi after the ends of day's events in front of his colleagues. Things will get better for Cristi but aspects of the wider damage done by prejudice in the LGBT community is going to still take long time. (7/10)