Dying of the Light (2014)
American film set partially in Bucharest, Romania.
Genre: Psychological thriller
Director: Paul Schrader
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin and Irène Jacob
Romanian Character: University of Bucharest Hospital, Research Dr. Iulian Cornel/Iulius Cornell.
Evan Lake, played by Nicholas Cage is a CIA veteran obsessed with hunting down terrorist Muhammad Banir, who, 20 years earlier had captured and tortured him.
After his CIA colleagues managed to save Lake it was presumed that the terrorist died in the explosion but his body was never found. However, nobody believes him that Banir is alive.
Lake starts on a very difficult path towards finding the terrorist and the movie is a race against time. While his determination to catch Banir is endless, the CIA agent is in fact suffering from dementia in the frontal lobe, a disease that, not only modifies his behavior but will also erase his memory soon enough.
Most of the action happens in Bucharest and each location is mentioned before the scene taking place there.
When a Kenyan national, while tailed by the Romanian police, jumps from a bridge in the Dambovita River, a USB drive resurfaces from the frozen waters. The Romanian Intelligence Service cannot manage to open the data on the corrupt USB drive and so they send it to the CIA for further investigation.
The USB reveals orders for an experimental drug supposed to treat thalassemia, a hereditary disease that Lake believes Banir to suffer from. The drugs are for an unknown Kenyan client and come from Iulius Cornell, a Professor Doctor who runs the University of Bucharest Medical Center.
There is not much to say about the way in which Romania is portrayed. One thing is certain however, the image is not different from what we are used to – grey, old buildings, a ruin of the Communist regime. Things look out of place throughout the city and no one looks happy.
The action happens during the winter and the lack of color is suffocating! Maybe because of that, the city of Bucharest looks like a dystopian society more than anything.
When Lake and his partner, along with an old flame that he meets again in Romania, sit together in a Bucharest restaurant, one waiter informs the trio that it is a non-smoking area. Lake’s response is meant to be offensive and to shock the audience.
Waiter: "Sir, this is a non-smoking section."
Evan Lake (Nicolas Cage): "Let me just check something. Yep, I'm in Romania! Are you out of your f---ing mind? This whole country is a smoking section!"
We know that his disease causes him to forget about political correctness sometimes but that does not change the fact that it is what he actually believes – he just wouldn’t have expressed it if not for his dementia.
Although the setting shots show Bucharest, they do not uncover or explain it in any way. Instead, they leave behind a mysterious feeling – not the kind of mystery you want to discover and explore, but one that seems to hide terrible secrets and dangers at every corner.
When it comes to the Romanian characters in the film, Dr. Cornell is certainly the most pregnant. He is educated but cowardly, corrupt, a push-over and avid for money.
When he meets Lake for the first time it is obvious that he speaks English fluently without any trace of a stereotypical Romanian accent. However, interestingly enough, when Lake takes on his identity in order to get to Banir, the CIA agent pretends to speak in broken English.
When it comes to Romanian fashion, the usual ways in which the Balkan people/East Europeans are seen in Hollywood applies here too. Aasim, Banir’s man sent to retrieve the drugs also wears a disguise – besides being advised by his boss to shave his beard for a more “European” look, it seems like his idea of blending in is wearing a tracksuit.
Perhaps the most misleading fashion choice however, is when we seen Lake himself, confused and lost, wearing a sheep-skin hat that is sometimes worn by Romanian farmers in the countryside - under no circumstances in the city. Because of that, plus the iconic Nicholas Cage facial acting, the scene that is supposed to be sad and touching turns comedic.
