Watch When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism

When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism is a Romanian drama film from 2013, directed by Corneliu Porumboiu. The movie tells the story of Paul, a filmmaker who is preparing to shoot a scene of a woman undressing in a dimly lit room. Paul is played by Bogdan Dumitrache, who gives a restrained and nuanced performance. Diana Avramut and Mihaela Sirbu also star in the movie.

The movie explores the themes of reality and fiction, truth and lies, and the nature of cinema as an art form. The film is divided into 17 chapters, each of which represents a different stage in the screenplay of Paul's film. The chapters are not presented in chronological order, which adds to the overall sense of ambiguity and uncertainty in the movie.

The film opens with a long, static shot of a hotel room, as the sound of traffic and the distant hum of conversation drift in through the windows. The camera remains fixed as Paul and his producer talk about their upcoming shoot. From the very beginning, the movie establishes a sense of detachment and emotional distance, which is maintained throughout the movie.

As Paul goes about his day, he interacts with various people - his girlfriend, his mother, his ex-wife - but he seems to be emotionally disconnected from all of them. It is only when he is on set, directing his actors and thinking about his film, that he comes alive.

The scenes that Paul shoots are often banal and ordinary - a woman brushing her teeth, a man tying his shoes - but they are imbued with a sense of mystery and significance. The movie often plays with the viewer's expectations, suggesting that something important is about to happen, only to subvert those expectations and leave the viewer with a sense of ambiguity.

One of the central themes of the movie is the idea of framing. Paul is obsessed with getting the framing of his shots exactly right, and he frequently adjusts the camera and the lighting until the image is just so. But this obsession with framing extends beyond the technical aspects of filmmaking; Paul is also deeply concerned with how he presents himself to the world, how his life is framed within the larger narrative of his own existence.

The movie is shot in a naturalistic style, with long takes and minimal camera movement. The cinematography is subdued and muted, with a color palette that emphasizes greys, blues, and muted greens. The movie is also notable for its use of sound, which is often used to create a sense of tension or unease.

When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism is a slow, meditative movie that rewards patient viewers who are willing to engage with its themes and formal innovations. It is a movie about the process of filmmaking, but it is also a movie about the process of living, about the ways in which we construct our own narratives and frame our own experiences. The movie does not provide easy answers or tidy resolutions, but instead invites the viewer to think deeply about the nature of reality and the power of the stories we tell ourselves.

When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism is a 2013 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 29 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.1 and a MetaScore of 67.