DEJA VU - UK Premiere

Romania 2012 • 74 minutes • Romanian with English subtitles

Plus Q&A with director Dan Chisu and lead actress Ioana Flora

Cast: Ioana Flora, Mirela Oprisor, Dan Chisu, Anca Alexandrescu, Tudor Smoleanu, Gabriel Rauta

Synopsis: Mihai wakes up one morning at his Bucharest home. As Tania makes breakfast, he joins her in the kitchen. But Tania is not his wife: Mihai has decided to end his marriage to Valeria, a high-profile celebrity, so he decides to go to their country villa to settle the last details of their divorce.

Full Synopsis: The movie tells the story of a 50 year old man, Mihai, who, after a marriage of 20 years, decides to divorce his wife and invite his mistress, Tania, to sleep over at his house for the first time. The morning after, tension grows between them. From the dialogue, we understand that they have been together for almost three years and that it is only her ultimatum which has caused the final separation. The film follows Mihai’s next hour and a half, after the moment when the two lovers decide to go and confront the wife, who has moved into their country house.

It's the classic story of a love triangle, where a man, happy in a long lasting marriage, reluctantly finds something to break the monotony. But the happiness of the lovers during their rare meetings is an illusion.  It is only when they live together, that the two lovers come to learn they are not compatible.  20 years of marriage can’t be deleted so easily. Tania is the perfect lover until she becomes the main female character in Mihai’s life, and she is tormented, because she doesn’t understand that Mihai still cares about his perfect wife.

We follow the story from Mihai’s POV from the beginning to the end. He is the main character of the film, but we will never see more than his hands, feet or flesh, in glass reflections or mirrors. His personality and his character are revealed from the discussions with the mistress, the mother and the wife.

The film consists of six scenes, rehearsed for two weeks every day.  The camera was mounted on a custom-made helmet, and the director is the actor playing Mihai as well the cameraman because he is the one who directs the camera’s gaze from the moment the main character wakes up, during his car ride or during the awkwardness of the final confrontation.