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On today’s show, David Edelstein reviews three different films that share the common impulse to demonstrate indelibly how for girls, behaving outrageously is still a political act. Here’s what he has to say about one of those films, Beyond the Hills:
Mungiu based Beyond the Hills on a true story, though he soft-pedals the degree of sexual abuse the girl based on Alina suffered in the orphanage. But there’s no ambiguity: The more she acts out, the more outraged Papa becomes. It’s a long and grueling film with a haunting wide-screen palette, stark and oppressive but teeming with veiled women who come and go like puppets.
