Three fundamental institutions of the Romanian state and of society are subjected to a critical examination in ‘5 minute‘ (the title of the English distribution is ‘5 Minutes Too Late‘), Dan Chisu‘s 2019 film: the press, the gendarmerie and the family. None of them pass it successfully, the film presenting an image of a society in crisis, which has great difficulty in approaching its conflicts sincerely and constructively. Romanian cinema, on the other hand, and the director-screenwriter Dan Chisu in particular, marks a success in my opinion with this film that combines social analysis and criticism with a well-constructed plot, based on a clever script, with truthful characters, well defined and excellently interpreted. ‘5 minute‘ is, in my opinion, a mature film of a filmmaker who is at the peak of his creative abilities.
The story of the film is based on authentic events and the feeling of realism is accentuated from the opening scene, in which the spectators familiar with the landscape of Bucharest can see well-known places in the center of the capital city of Romania. The screening of an LGBT-themed film is interrupted by a group of extremists protesting violently. The gendarmerie is called, but it enters the cinema hall late, and during these fatal minutes, in the mess created, a young activist is seriously injured. While he is in a coma in the hospital, the press and the media bring the case to the center of the news. The main conflict develops between the television reporter Liliana Calomfir who is willing to go as far as possible to reveal the guilt of the gendarmes who intervened too late and Nicu Holban, the head of the gendarmes team, a man with many merits in his past, including acts of heroism in saving human lives, but also with homophobic prejudices and problems in his own family life. The dispute between the two is not necessarily, or not only, a dispute between the two institutions – the television and the gendarmerie – but also gets personal tents. Corruption, superficiality, immorality in behavior and language seem endemic in both institutions. Screenwriter Dan Chisu has chosen to focus on the life of the Holban family, which also seems to be falling apart, same as has the institution that the head of the family serves. We know much less about the journalist, we admire her struggle to make a news item that attracts audiences and respects the journalistic truth at the same time, unlike her boss who is only concerned with the search for the sensational and willing to compromise with the authorities. As the story progresses, questions about the methods used by the reporter show up as well. Yet, she remains the positive character of the story, seemingly ready to risk her career to bring the truth to light, but in the end that truth may not be in line with what she expected.
‘5 minute‘ is filmed and edited in TV news style, alert, with rhythm and tension. The film-in-film technique is used several times effectively. The acting is remarkable. Diana Cavallioti dominates the screen through her presence and charisma in the role of reporter. The really complex role, however, is that of the gendarmerie officer played by Mihai Calin. He creates a character whose negative traits we know well from life, but we also know the sources of his flaws, which ultimately leads to a kind of strange empathy with a negative character, which is very difficult to achieve in this kind of movies. Emanuel Parvu and Adrian Titieni play solid secondary roles. A special mention should be given to Elvira Deatcu in the role of the wife caught in the middle of the whirlwind of events, trying to save what can be saved from her husband’s honor and her family’s balance. ‘5 minute‘ is a significant film extracted from today’s Romanian reality. Recommended viewing.