‘Three Kilometres to the End of the World’ Review: Emanuel Parvu Examines Reactionary Conservatism From the Inside

Cannes 2024: The actor-turned-director peers into an insular Romanian community in the aftermath of a hate crime

three-kilometers-to-the-end-of-the-world
Photo courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

“Three Kilometres to the End of the World” opens on the most shocking of images: A sunset, lushly captured in widescreen from far back on beach, silhouetting two lovers with the whole world all to themselves. You might even gasp.

Only once director Emanuel Parvu goes beyond the opening postcard to reveal more of his hand, you can more easily place this Palme d’Or contender within the grand tradition of Romanian cinema at the Cannes Film Festival. And once you get to know this motley bunch, you can more than easily understand why someone might describe them with this pithy summation: “This country is rotten.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.