I’m all for whistling while you work, but Romanian New Wave writer/director Corneliu Porumboiu takes it to a whole new level in his new release The Whistlers. It’s a heist flick loosely centered on crooks learning an ancient whistling language in order to break a drug dealer and money launderer named Zsolt out of prison. Zsolt has 30 million Euros stashed somewhere, and everyone wants a piece of it. It’s a very convoluted story full of betrayals, treachery, and ultimately, full of confusion.
Police inspector Christi (Vlad Ivanov) is under surveillance for potentially being a dirty cop. Enter the gorgeous, mysterious Gilda (Catrinel Marlon) who wants to recruit him in a complicated scheme to free a sketchy businessman who stole millions. During an early meeting at his apartment, we see her having sex with him in order to trick those watching via planted cameras into thinking she is a high-priced sex worker. Why is it “stylish” films so often reduce women, even smart ones, to leveraging their sexuality?
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