When glancing at the history of cinema, it’s tough to see an assemblage of three or more filmmakers from the same region making films at more or less the same point in time and not seeing such an occurrence being described in terms of some homogenous entity – after all, it simply takes a few creative individuals and a shared series of experiences for an entire artistic movement. We are naturally predisposed to dividing people into different categories since it helps us make sense of their work and the underlying themes. For about three decades, we have been seeing a growing movement within Romania, where a steadily growing group of film directors and screenwriters have come together to explore the history of their country and its storied history, which occurred more or less with the end of the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu, which launched an enormous artistic revolution that has come to be known as the Romanian New Wave, the second iteration we are currently witnessing, particularly with the rise of a new set of younger, more dynamic filmmakers. One person who has served as a bridge between the two generations is Radu Jude, who is perhaps the most exciting and intelligent filmmaker currently working in Europe, someone whose films are radical to the point where the process of watching one of them almost feels like we are gaining forbidden knowledge, peering into the mind of someone whose entire raison d’etre is to unsettle and redefine the craft of cinema. One of his most notable works, and perhaps the one that best represents both his style and the birth of this second era of the Romanian New Wave, is Aferim!, in which Jude loosely adapts the writings of about a dozen writers, using their words for both the dialogue and general philosophical musings we find throughout this film, which tells the story of a 19th-century bounty hunter sent out to find an escaped servant, taking his lacklustre son along for company, and engaging in a series of bizarre misadventures along the way. Strange and unconventional, but utterly awe-inspiring in the sheer scope of the narrative, Aferim! is an incredible achievement, and one of Jude’s first major accomplishments in his ongoing journey to become arguably the most revolutionary filmmaker of his generation.

As part of his endeavour to convey his unconventional perspective of the human condition, Jude constantly employs unorthodox methods to explore some very simple themes. He is both socially aware and artistically inspired, which leads to projects that are daring in scope and striking in execution. The balance he finds between the concepts that inspire his films, and the techniques he uses to bring them to life are the foundation of his incredible originality, and the simplicity with which he approaches these films is one of his greatest skills. Aferim! has been described by the director himself as a Western, as filtered through the history of Romanian politics and culture. Looking purely at the premise and general setting, it is clear why Rude seemed impelled to craft this film around such a popular genre – it takes place in the 19th century, and the concept is very much aligned with common Western tropes, featuring a complex protagonist and his companion being given the task of locating and retrieving a particularly rebellious fugitive, bringing him back to face the consequences of his actions, and along the way encountering a range of challenges that test their skills. The structure is very much aligned with Western tropes, but it never relies too heavily on these elements, instead using them as the impetus for the story, gradually conveying the sense that there is something much deeper simmering beneath the surface and that the journey to get to the final destination (both literally and metaphorically) will be much more varied than simply a conventional search-and-return mission, which is the foundation of the film but not the aspect that makes it so incredibly compelling. The vast majority of this film involves the two main characters riding through the country on horseback, engaged in a series of lengthy discussions in which they discuss everything from existential philosophy to their most carnal, animalistic craving – and despite being almost entirely driven by dialogue (the entire film essentially being a single conversation between the protagonist that is periodically interrupted by other characters weaving in and out of the film, and the occasional deviation to brief but memorable glimpses into their surroundings and the residents that they encounter along the way), the film never once feels unnecessarily florid or didactic, proving that it is possible to make a film that is mostly composed of dense dialogue and still have it be genuinely compelling with the right approach.

Based on a cursory glance at the plot, you would struggle to find much analogy between Aferim! and many other films from within the Romanian New Wave, particularly because this is a period piece set in the 19th century, whereas the more popular trend for this movement were either films set during the Communist period or in the direct aftermath since these are the primary themes that the filmmakers aligned with this collective tended to prioritize. Yet, Jude still aligns himself with the broader concepts, just examining them from a wildly different perspective, which ultimately brings us to the core of this film, which is a pitch-black comedy about social conventions and how they are often subverted when we look at them from a different perspective. The general perception of dystopian fiction is that they take place in either a vaguely contemporary setting, or in the future – but if we remove the futuristic element, these are ultimately stories about the decline of society, and the collapse of the laws of existence as we perceive them. This takes on a more blunt meaning when we situate the same themes in a different setting, such as the near-distant past, especially since history is something that can easily be reconfigured to fit a particular narrative. For Jude, revisiting the past entails allowing the more chaotic elements to rise to the surface since history can never be truly sanitized if we want to present an authentic depiction. Aferim! is a vulgar, harsh and genuinely macabre film, and Jude consistently leans into the dark humour, which he has done in the majority of his films – for him, comedy seems to be something that can both elicit laughter and provoke thought, and considering he often attempts to craft films that take place in slightly nightmarish, uncanny versions of reality, the absurdity that gradually emerges is an effective narrative device. He is an artistic anarchist, and he is certainly not afraid to offend – and as a result, Aferim! is both a delightfully deranged dark comedy that manages to be genuinely funny and a stark and unsettling statement on history, giving us a glimpse into a version of the past defined by a lack of order, which complements the underlying themes that Jude is so insistent on exploring as the foundation of the film.

There are many layers to Aferim!, but it’s a film that works best when it is at its most simple, and Jude doesn’t ever feel impelled to add embellishments, since the bare-boned, unfurnished nature of the film, both in terms of the narrative and its visual execution, creates an unusual and hypnotic atmosphere. One of Jude’s most fascinating talents comes in his ability to craft films that simultaneously feel vintage and contemporary, a contradiction that makes much more sense when we see his work in practice. His films often feel like we are being placed in a position where we are voyeuristically peering into the lives of people, observing their daily routine – there’s an abundance of banality, and nothing ever quite makes much sense – except, it within this chaotic perspective that we find some of the most revealing truths. Filmed in black-and-white in some of the most idyllic locations in Romania, Aferim! is a striking film whose visual component is just as compelling as its narrative, the compositions being truly stunning, albeit in a way that is oddly quite challenging – we’re not supposed to splendour in the beauty of the film, but rather feel bewildered and uncomfortable with the amount of detail presented to us on screen, which is an unconventional way of making a film, but one that makes perfect sense when we unpack this story and see how Jude conveys a deep sense of despair throughout. It’s genuinely very funny, but the bleak and austere style contributes to the underlying existential dread – the director enjoys challenging us to look beneath the surface, and crafting a film that forces the viewer to feel a range of emotions. most of them emerging through the dissonance formed between the fascinating philosophical commentary present in the dialogue, and the harrowing, sometimes quite violent imagery presented throughout. Jude is not someone who has ever demonstrated willing restraint, and he tends to make films that unspool into pure visual and tonal anarchy where appropriate, making his work almost entirely defined by the sense of intentional discomfort, a technique that not many contemporary directors are willing to embrace so openly.

The fear that Jude is being unnecessarily overlooked as a genius of his craft is only temporary, since between Bad Luck Banging, Loony Porn and Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, he has started to achieve much more attention, which has allowed curious viewers astonished by his unique vision to work backwards, exploring his earlier works and finding the brilliance that lurk beneath their often unconventional surfaces. Aferim! is one of his most deranged and exceptionally compelling works, and remains a daring and experimental dark comedy that speaks to his precise attention to detail and tendency towards challenging the artistic status quo in a way that is profoundly unsettling and outrageously funny, even when doing so through a historical period piece. It all comes down to the fact that Jude does not merely break the rules of filmmaking or social decorum –  he shatters them with a radical intensity and then pieces them together in a way that is genuinely unconventional and almost entirely unrecognizable, forming them in the image of what he considers to be a truthful, authentic depiction of the absurd world in which we live, and with Aferim! he implies that this journey towards an almost surreal existence is not a recent phenomenon, but rather one that has existed for centuries, as evident in his loose adaptation of the profound writings of a range of notable philosophers, whose words he reconfigures to be the foundation for this darkly comical, off-the-wall satire that is delightfully perverse and genuinely maniacal in terms of both tone and narrative. It doesn’t always make sense, and the motivations of the characters are often too peculiar to even begin rationalizing, but this is all intentionally done by the director, whose active desire to unseat the status quo has been one of his most distinct qualities for his entire career, and which is perfectly encapsulated in Aferim!, one of the most provocative and disquieting dark comedies of recent years, and a truly major achievement in world cinema.