Malmkrog (2020, directed by Cristi Puiu) is a (very long) feature filled with a sophisticated sense of irony, a most subtle sarcasm due to social satire that many viewers will not notice. If it had been a mid-late 19th century Literary Realism roman à thèse, it could have been signed by Gustave Flaubert, Fiódor Dostoievsky, Eça de Queirós (Portugal) or Machado de Assis (Brazil).

Putting it in contemporary terms, what we see onscreen could be any hipster / university party from any bohemian neighborhood in any big city: here we have that semi-enlightened elite that is pleased to see themselves as the greatest commentators of the world, without any modesty. However, their great cultural capital is barely able to disguise the barbarity of social relations that are always present (take the domestic employees, for example).

The impression that remains of the film as a whole is that of an embarrassing astonishment, a true cringeworthy feeling, given the absolute irrelevance, inconsequence, and even impertinence of the “opinions” and arguments of those fine gents. The deserved shock of reality seems far from the arrogant at the top of their ivory tower, philosophizing about the world (of others), about life (of others). But that shock is coming. Wait and see.