The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

London Film Festival 2019

The Whistlers (La Gomera)

London Film Festival 2019: The Whistlers (La Gomera) | Review
30 September 2019
Rosamund Kelby
Avatar
Rosamund Kelby
30 September 2019
Public screenings
9th October 2019 8.45pm at Curzon Mayfair
10th October 2019 12.30pm at BFI Southbank (NFT)

Movie and show review

Rosamund Kelby

The Whistlers (La Gomera)

★★★★★

Special event

The Whistlers is a taut noir thriller, a tale of corruption that twists, turns and teases without ever releasing you from its grip. Corneliu Porumboiu, the Romanian director behind Police, Adjective, delves once more into the shady world of law enforcement, this time exploring how one bent cop becomes caught up in the criminal activity he is investigating.

Vlad Ivanov is suitably steely-faced as Cristi, a corrupt detective embroiled in drug money laundering. His character gives little away and yet his portrayal is complex, repelling with his shady dealings and yet pulling us back as he reveals an enduring love for his mother, a complicated relationship with religion (and the ultimate maternal figure of the Virgin Mary) and a protective admiration for Gilda (Catrinel Marlon), the girlfriend of the drug lord in whose operation he is entangled. This is a man who underestimates the law, but who never underestimates women.

The story weaves back and forth, uncovering layers of deceit below the surface. Though the characters are interlinked, each name is pointedly given to a distinct chapter; on their separate islands, no alliance – nor antagonism – is ever truly certain. The island from which the original title, La Gomera, originates is itself a big part of the story – an isolated territory in the Canaries upon which the criminals’ base is located. Unlike rainy Bucharest, it’s a sunny paradise. And yet shots of water are imbued with new symbolic meaning: swimming will not wash anyone of sin; it’s a reverse-baptism. Back in Bucharest, Cristi fools the surveillance cameras. On La Gomera, he evolves to a new level of duplicity by learning a whistling language that is not interceptable by police.

Fittingly, sound is employed powerfully in the film. We open to Iggy Pop’s The Passenger, which in its contradictory context is bleak and relentless. Classical music features strongly, Fauré’s Belle Nuit a recurring motif that masterfully builds tension. Whistled notes echo throughout the volcanic landscape, eerie and unsettling, then again through the urban environment, cutting above the noise of the city. Communication is key, but language loses all meaning when the intent is false; let the wrong people in on your secrets and the circle is no longer safe.

The Whistlers is a masterclass in suspense, a film about deceit that leaves us aptly in the dark and then illuminates us in a triumphant final scene.

★★★★★

Rosamund Kelby

The Whistlers (La Gomera) does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews and interviews from our London Film Festival 2019 coverage here.

For further information about the festival visit the official BFI website here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Film festivals

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

“I think I’m kind of a drug addict for image and sound coming together! I’m always putting images to sound and getting high”: An interview with Hlynur Pálmason, director of Godland

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Watcher

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Resurrection

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Sharp Stick

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Leyla’s Brothers: An interview with Saeed Roustayi

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Plan 75: An interview with director Chie Hayakawa

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Falcon Lake: An interview with director Charlotte Le Bon

Selina Sondermann
Read More

“How to make a genuine portrait of life”: An interview with the stars of Leila’s Brothers

Selina Sondermann
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Rosamund Kelby

The Whistlers (La Gomera)

★★★★★

Special event

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Midsummer Mechanicals at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Theatre is totally unique… there’s simply nothing else quite like it”: An interview with Sir Howard Panter as the new cast of Jersey Boys opens at Trafalgar Theatre
    Theatre
  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The Sandman
    ★★★★★
    netflix
  • South Facing Festival: Richard Ashcroft and his band were on impressive form from start to finish
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eiffel
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Five Days at Memorial
    ★★★★★
    apple
  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • South Facing Festival: Richard Ashcroft and his band were on impressive form from start to finish
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Five Days at Memorial
    ★★★★★
    apple
  • South Facing Festival: Richard Ashcroft and his band were on impressive form from start to finish
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Jersey Boys bring on a new cast at Trafalgar Theatre
    Theatre
  • Prey
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

On|Off Presents… spring/summer 2020 show backstage | LFW
London Film Festival 2019: Family Romance, LLC | Review