Kino 6: Corneliu Porumboiu

Corneliu Porumboiu
The Second Game (2014)
Video, color, sound, 98 minutes

Evening Screening

Friday 27 May 2016, 7–9pm
(film begins at 7:30pm)

Daily Screenings

27 May until 17 June 2016
Screening at 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm

It's a rerun of a match that extended far beyond the bounds of the football field. In his 98-minute film The Second Game (2014), filmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu and his father — a former referee — review a VHS tape of a football game the father officiated in 1988. The game was played in Bucharest, a year before the violent toppling of Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu. It was also played in the middle of a blizzard, but this mattered little to fierce rivals Steaua and Dinamo — teams whose feuding is so pronounced that Romanians still call their periodic clashes 'The Eternal Derby'.

In 1988, the teams were affiliated with opposing political camps — the Secret Police and the Army — which made impartiality especially difficult for referees, who were subject to regular intimidation and bribes. 26 years later, Porumboiu’s father reluctantly watches the game in its entirety, but this time with the necessary distance to reflect on his memory of the event and to comment nostalgically on the 'golden age' of Romanian football. Porumboiu and his father serve as unseen narrators, while the entire match is played back silently, without alteration. The only editing was done in the original recording, by state media, who replaced moments of 'unsportsmanlike' brawls with images of cheering fans.

And yet despite the deadpan approach, comedic moments surface, and beautifully abstract images result when the fuzzy analog 'snow' on the old weathered videotape merges with the actual snowfall during the game. This, in contrast to the strenuous gameplay between the warring factions and the complex political context that was playing out off-screen, creates a mounting tension and an engrossing narrative. As any fan will attest, football is never just a game.

CREDITS:

THE SECOND GAME / AL DOILEA JOC

A film by Corneliu Porumboiu
2014

Cast
Adrian Porumboiu
Corneliu Porumboiu

Producer: Marcela Ursu

Sound: Dana Bunescu, Sebastian Zsemlye

Translation Romanian - English: Tom Wilson

Subtitling: Roxana Szel

Postproduction: Laboratory CINELABS, Romania

Conforming and DI colorist: Claudiu Doagă

Post Production Supervisor
Bogdan Dumitru

Sales and Lab Manager
Cornelia Popa

Recorded images of TVR match DINAMO - STEAUA
Played on 3 December 1988
Related Image Rights - Romanian Television Corporation (SRTv)

Music- WINTER 1
Interpretation - Max Richter
Composer - Max Richter, derivation of Antonio Vivaldi
Licensor Publishing Rights: K9 Music Publishing
Licensor Master Rights: Universal Music Romania

Thanks

Arantxa
Viorica
Octavian
Lucian Pintile
Marie France Ionesco
Andrei Ujică
Radu Jude
Sorin Botoșăneanu
Mircea Sandu
Nicolae Badea
Marian Olaianos
Marius Mitran
Tudor Mircea
Ciprian Damian
Octavian Apetrei
Grațiela Borode
Cornelia Popa
Cinelabs Romania
Romanian Federation of Football
Football Club Dinamo Bucharest
Football Club Steaua Bucharest
Professional League of Football