The Japan Times - Cristian Mungiu's Fjord examines a family's conflict with Norwegian child authorities

Fjord, written and directed by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, centers on a child-protection dispute involving a Christian family in Norway. Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve play parents Mihai and Lisbet Gheorghiu, whose five children are placed in foster care.

The Palme d'Or-winning film is appearing at the Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled to open in theaters on October 9. It runs 146 minutes and had not yet received an age rating at the time of the New York Post review.

The story begins its central conflict after teachers see two bruises on the arm of the family's daughter Elia, played by Vanessa Ceban. Jonathan Ciprian Breazu plays her brother Emmanuel.

The film presents other possible explanations for the injuries, including wrestling in gym class and encouragement from a neighbor's daughter to jump from a bedroom window. The response of local authorities becomes part of its examination of how officials assess family conduct.

Religious and cultural differences also contribute to the conflict. In one school scene, a teacher objects when Elia plays Amazing Grace on a classroom piano. Other residents disapprove of the parents' restrictions on modern music and YouTube.

Mihai acknowledges that he has sometimes slapped the children on the rear. Lisbet says she struck her eldest daughter's arm away when the girl nearly spilled hot liquid on the baby. The parents characterize their conduct in terms of cultural practice or an immediate response to danger.

The resulting dispute asks whether removing all five children is a proportionate response. It proceeds toward a trial, while the family's neighbor Mia, played by Lisa Carlehed, acts as their lawyer.

The film also includes Mia's elderly father-in-law Ake, played by Øyvind Venstad Kjeksrud. His subplot forms part of the wider depiction of life in the coastal community.

New York Post critic Johnny Oleksinski described the film as largely balanced but interpreted it as broadly sympathetic to the parents. That is his reading of Mungiu's work, rather than a definitive statement of the director's intended position.

Oleksinski distinguished the drama from films such as Doubt and Anatomy of a Fall, arguing that Fjord is driven more by debate about the response to acknowledged behavior than by uncertainty over whether an alleged act occurred.

He found the questions intellectually engaging but criticized the pacing and repetition. In his assessment, the film loses momentum around its midpoint and the later courtroom proceedings do not fully restore it.

The review also criticized the Ake subplot as unnecessary, while identifying Carlehed's performance as one of the gentler elements in a story dominated by conflict.

Oleksinski praised both lead actors. He said Reinsve conveyed affection and sensitivity within Lisbet's reserved character, contrasting the role with her Oscar-nominated performance in the previous year's Norway-set Sentimental Value.

He also highlighted Stan's transformation into the restrained Romanian father Mihai. The review placed it alongside Stan's varied recent roles, including a young Donald Trump, Tommy Lee, Bucky Barnes and a man with a condition causing facial tumors.

Fjord uses the family's case to explore parental authority, religion, cultural differences and the responsibilities of child-protection institutions. Its events are the plot of a film, and the competing judgments described in the review concern how that fictional dispute is presented.

The Toronto screening brings the drama to another festival audience ahead of its October release, with the review noting awards attention alongside its reservations about the storytelling.

S.Yamada--JT