In the beginning of his career Cristian Mungiu portrayed Communist Romania. "Graduation" is about the disappointment with post Communist Romania and particularly with the widespread corruption that didn't disappear after the Communists were gone.
Due to this disappointment Romeo Aldea (Adrian Titieni) sees a brighter future for his daughter Eliza Aldea (Maria Dragus) abroad (see also "A separation", 2011, Asghar Farhadi). First Eliza has to pass an exam with good grades to earn a scholarship in Cambridge. Short before these important exam Eliza is assaulted. She is emotianally shaken and this puts the result of the exam and thus her future abroad in jeopardy.
"Graduation" is a very nuanced treatment of the subtleties around corruption. At first instance you might think there are no subtletis around corruptuion. It is plainly bad and the one committing it is a bad guy.
This is true for corruption with the purpose of leading a luxurious life. The kind of corruption for example "Leviathan" (2014, Andrey Zvyagintsev) is about.
But what if corruption is deeply ingrained in society? If it is not the exception but the normal way of doing business? If it is hard to earn an honest living without it? Romeo and his wife answer the above questions in different ways. His wife is the principled one of the two, but as a result not financially independent. Aldea has a more pragmatic attitude. He is as honest as society allows him to be. He is a physician and shall never allow a bribe to overrule his medical judgement. In summary Romeao is certainly not a bad guy.
But then the future of his daughter is at stake! The result of the exam, that she would have passed in normal circumstances without any doubt, is in danger. Without her fault the circumstances are no longer normal. Isn't it fair to "normalize" the circumstances with the help of a little money? But of course Romeo has also doubts. Isn't it strange to arrange the access to a non corrupt society through corruption? How would his daughter react when she realizes that her admission to Cambridge has been bought?
The above shows how the honest Romeo becomes entangled in a diabolical moral dilemma because the love for his daughter. Sometimes corruption is not a black and white issue.
Due to this disappointment Romeo Aldea (Adrian Titieni) sees a brighter future for his daughter Eliza Aldea (Maria Dragus) abroad (see also "A separation", 2011, Asghar Farhadi). First Eliza has to pass an exam with good grades to earn a scholarship in Cambridge. Short before these important exam Eliza is assaulted. She is emotianally shaken and this puts the result of the exam and thus her future abroad in jeopardy.
"Graduation" is a very nuanced treatment of the subtleties around corruption. At first instance you might think there are no subtletis around corruptuion. It is plainly bad and the one committing it is a bad guy.
This is true for corruption with the purpose of leading a luxurious life. The kind of corruption for example "Leviathan" (2014, Andrey Zvyagintsev) is about.
But what if corruption is deeply ingrained in society? If it is not the exception but the normal way of doing business? If it is hard to earn an honest living without it? Romeo and his wife answer the above questions in different ways. His wife is the principled one of the two, but as a result not financially independent. Aldea has a more pragmatic attitude. He is as honest as society allows him to be. He is a physician and shall never allow a bribe to overrule his medical judgement. In summary Romeao is certainly not a bad guy.
But then the future of his daughter is at stake! The result of the exam, that she would have passed in normal circumstances without any doubt, is in danger. Without her fault the circumstances are no longer normal. Isn't it fair to "normalize" the circumstances with the help of a little money? But of course Romeo has also doubts. Isn't it strange to arrange the access to a non corrupt society through corruption? How would his daughter react when she realizes that her admission to Cambridge has been bought?
The above shows how the honest Romeo becomes entangled in a diabolical moral dilemma because the love for his daughter. Sometimes corruption is not a black and white issue.