What do we talk about when we talk about film criticism? An interview with Andrei Gorzo – part I
It is almost useless to introduce Andrei Gorzo, given his important stature in the local cultural sphere. He is unquestionably the most important contemporary Romanian film critic and is appreciated as such in spheres that go way beyond those of the film industry, even the local one: soon, he participated in an international panel at Viennale which brought together some of the most important critics of around the world, in a discussion about the state of the art of criticism in these troubled times for the profession. Why troubled times? As you will find in the first part of our discussion, film criticism is facing a difficult existential crisis. And Gorzo's aim is to analyze in his latest volume, which was newly released at the Gaudeamus book fair : Viața, moartea și iar viața criticii de film (The death, and again the life of film criticism, Polirom), a volume unlike any other in the local publishing landscape, a deeply self-reflexive endeavor. Gorzo looks both at the history and the state of the film criticism in Romania and its leading figures, whole also he critically re-evaluating films such as Toni Erdmann (2016, dir. Ade or The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu (2005, dir. Cristi Puiu) - one of the films that stood at the basis of the extremely influential theories that he elaborated in Lucruri care nu pot fi spuse altfel (Things that cannot be said otherwise (2012, Humanitas).
Film critic & journalist. Collaborates with local and international outlets, programs a short film festival - BIEFF, does occasional moderating gigs and is working on a PhD thesis about home movies. At Films in Frame, she writes the monthly editorial - The State of Cinema and is the magazine's main festival reporter.
