Romania, the autumn of the year 1972. Ana, a 17-year-old teenager, finds out that her boyfriend will flee the country for good in a few days. The two lovers decide to spend their last days together.
“Metronom” was an anti-communist program that broadcast banned music and transmissions to Soviet satellite states. Backed by the CIA’s Radio Free Europe, the station was implemented during the Cold War in an attempt to subvert communist ideology. Writer/Director Alexandru Belc grew up in Romania and was inspired by various acts of resistance by fellow countrymen who defied censorship by dancing and listening to forbidden Western music. Using long takes and the 1970s period-appropriate tracks, Belc focuses on Ana (Maria Bugarin), a teenager whose boyfriend Sorin (Serban Lazarovici) goes missing just as the state’s secret police are closing in.
Ana attends her best friend’s party, where the partygoers fawn over the Metronom station playing American hits by Jimi Hendrix and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Belc lets his scenes breathe, playing Light My Fire by The Doors for nearly ten minutes, and when the song ends, the DJ accurately eulogizes Jim Morrison. As Ana waits for her boyfriend, the secret police, wearing leather jackets resembling Gestapo officers, arrives to question each attendee. An excruciating interrogation goes on as long as the party did, making for an immersive experience.
Besides the production details and costume design, the extended party sequence recalled 1970s epics like “The Deer Hunter” and even “The Godfather.” Belc attempts to emulate the braggadocio spectacle of those aforementioned Hollywood films, but “Metronom” is more subdued. The limited locations and lengthy scenes mostly resemble a play. Belc does not appear to be taking sides in the Cold War conflict; instead, he captures a moment in time and the transcendental power of art.
“Metronom” was an Official Selection of Un Certain Regard at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival
