A corporate retreat sees an office staff trying to traverse a Transylvanian forest in Concurs. Never quite The Office Movie as Tarkovsky's Stalker that it sounds like on paper, it still teases that spirit - though only pays it off in the final minutes. Admittedly the subtitles I was working with were highly suspect, and the amount of dialogue would be more at home as a play. Rather than physical labours, the bulk of the challenge comes in bickering office politics and introspection. The social commentary - largely mocking the senior employee's self-serving nature, while the lowest rung worker makes for the only effective team member - is fairly basic (Concurs is very well thought of, and I'm sure has much greater depth in a better translation). This contest still provides a lot of meaty roles for an impressive collection of Romanian character actors - and the films' cryptic atmosphere is off the charts. Between Vlad Paunescu's cinematography and Adrian Enescu's score, the film is genuinely haunting. I will visit Concurs again, hopefully in a better presentation, and am already plotting further adventures into Dan Pita's filmography.March Around the World - 20/30 - Romania1982 Birth Year Challenge
