Soldiers. Story from Ferentari

Adi is 40 years old and newly single. He moves to Ferentari, one of the very poorest parts of Bucharest, to complete his doctorate about manele (Romanian pop music). Once in Ferentari, Adi is accepted into a brutal, masculine environment dominated by crime and poverty. After having paid for sex from his informer Alberto, the two start a sexual relationship. Alberto has spent large parts of his life behind bars, he has no paperwork and no job. Adi gets entangled in an intense, destructive relationship which is based on manipulation, fear and mental abuse. Not the easiest kind of thing to find your way out of, as it turns out.

This is a film full of contrasts, and it never ceases to surprise you. There are frequent twists and turns to the narrative, so that it keeps challenging the expectations of the viewer, and the cinematography and acting gives it a documentary-like feeling. The intense drama at the forefront is regularly interrupted by long takes of everyday scenes from Bucharest.

Soldiers. Story From Ferentari is not a beautiful love story. It is, however, an interesting and poignant portrayal of an improbable love affair; a relationship which actually stranded long before it ever begun. As a film it invites the viewer to reflect around their own expectations to the cinematic narrative, to relationships, and to love itself.