Beyond The Hills (2013)
Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 79
Fresh: 71 | Rotten: 8
Although some viewers may mistake its deliberate pace for passionless filmmaking, Beyond the Hills offers an intelligent, powerfully acted examination of the tension between secular life and religious faith.
Average Rating: 8/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 4
Although some viewers may mistake its deliberate pace for passionless filmmaking, Beyond the Hills offers an intelligent, powerfully acted examination of the tension between secular life and religious faith.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 1,249
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Movie Info
In an isolated Orthodox convent in Romania, Alina has just been reunited with Voichita after spending several years in Germany. The two young women have supported and loved each other since meeting as children in an orphanage. Alina wants Voichita to leave and return with her to Germany, but Voichita has found refuge in faith and a family in the nuns and their priest, and refuses. Alina cannot understand her friend's choice. In her attempt to win back Voichita's affection, she challenges the
Cast
-
Cosmina Stratan
Voichita -
Cristina Flutur
Alina -
Valeriu Andriuta
The Priest -
Dana Tapalaga
Mother Superior -
Catalina Harabagiu
Nun Antonia -
Gina Tandura
Nun Iustina -
Vica Agache
Sister Elisabeta -
Nora Covali
Nun Pahomia -
Dionisie Vitcu
Mr. Valerica -
Ionut Ghinea
Ionut -
Liliana Mocanu
Mother Elena -
Doru Ana
Father Nusu -
Costache Babii
Doctor Solovastru -
Luminita Gheorghiu
Schoolteacher -
Alina Berzunteanu
Doctor Radu -
Teo Corban
Police Inspector -
Calin Chirila
Policeman -
Cristina Christian
Camelia -
Tania Popa
Female Parishioner -
Petronela Grigorescu
Doctor Neagu -
Radu Zetu
Lieutenant -
Ion Sapdaru
Captain -
Diana Ignat
Secretary -
Liana Petrescu
Sister Arcadia -
Alexandra Agavriloaiei
Sister Eudoxia -
Alexandra Apetrei
Sister Tatiana -
Noemi Gunea
Sister Lavrentia -
Katia Pascariu
Nun Sevastiana -
Mara Carutasu
Sister Anastasia -
Cerasela Iosifescu
Doctor D.L. -
Ada Barleanu
Nurse Gina -
Mariana Liurca
Nurse Sandra -
Gheorghe Ifrim
Ambulance Assistant -
Mircea Florin, Jr.
Watchman -
Marian Adochitei
Gabi -
Ecaterina Tugulea
Head Nurse -
Nicoleta Lefter
Patient -
Adrian Ancuta
Man in the Car -
Andreena Bosneag
Georgiana
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All Critics (79) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (71) | Rotten (8)
The final shot, with windshield wipers struggling to clean away a torrent of muddy water, suggests that no human agency is great enough to handle this world's misery.
Top Critic"Beyond the Hills" seethes with astonishment and rage at a broken society marooned between the 21st century and the 16th.
It is a haunting movie, dealing with superstitions, possession, even exorcism, one in which Mungiu poses no easy answers, because there are none to be found.
If you long for the bleak intelligence of an Ingmar Bergman film, where humankind is deeply flawed and God is indifferently silent and the landscape is cloaked in perpetual winter, then Beyond the Hills promises to be your cup of despair.
There are no easy villains or heroes in this sad and slow but forcefully told tale, which exhibits the same humanity Mungiu brought to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, his abortion drama that won the 2007 Palme d'Or.
A film that asks its viewer to consider the nature of good and evil, love and trust - and trust that turns into something like blind faith.
Beyond the Hills' undercurrents prove more interesting than its storyline or characters.
Strikingly shot and punishingly long ...
(Writer-director Christian) Mungiu balances his film's more disturbing content with peaceful shots of the idyllic, surrounding countryside and of intimacy between the two women while slowly building to an inevitable conclusion.
When the ill and unstable Alina returns to the monastery, just so she can be with her beloved, Beyond the Hills becomes a species of those exorcism movies that audiences gorge on, only done with a realism and ambiguity usually missing from the genre.
What makes this movie unique is that it holds literally everyone in the film accountable for the unfortunate goings on.
It's an exorcism movie for everyone who thought, after Mungiu's gruelling abortion buddy-movie 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, that this guy should do an exorcism movie
It's an enigmatic and austere film from a region where political, sexual and religious repression are as stifling as the sooty air.
Mungui's rigorous approach to filmmaking isn't a ton of fun to watch, but his ideas stick with you.
It delivers an emotional punch, in what its director has called a story about the sin of indifference.
Such is the rigorous and high-minded nature of Romanian cinema that even a real-life exorcism story can inspire something loftier than a horror movie.
Heartbreak at a Romanian convent
...Cristian Mungiu has taken a real life event...to consider deeply human philosophies such as freedom vs. discipline, love vs. security, the choices facing those without financial recourse and the hypocrisies of organized religions.
I found it riveting to watch and fascinating to think about afterwards.
An undeniably tough watch.
Audience Reviews for Beyond The Hills
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Latest News on Beyond The Hills
March 8, 2013:
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Foreign Titles
- Beyond the Hills (Dupa Dealuri) (DE)
- Beyond the Hills (UK)
