108 Stuff and Dough

[antnield]

The debut feature from Cristi Puiu (director of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) is an unnerving, verite-style thriller that reveals the lives of a group of young people living in a country still recovering from years of misrule and neglect.

Seeking a way to finance his own independence Ovidiu agrees to courier a bag of what appear to be pharmaceutical medicines from to Bucharest. Taking his friend Vali and his new girlfriend, Betty along for the ride, their initial high spirits are shattered when a pursuing red jeep attempts to drive them off the road.

They have no idea who's in the jeep or what they want, but a simple trip to Bucharest has suddenly become a life-threatening ordeal...

Part crime thriller, part comedy, part chase movie, part familial drama — the conscious conflation of genres in this dryly funny, political, but deceptively simple road movie quietly reveals the state of contemporary Romanian life.

Second Run present the film fom a brand new HD restoration and also includes Christi Puiu's award-winning 2004 short film Cigarettes and Coffee (Un cartuș de Kent și un pachet de cafea).

Coming soon.

[What A Disgrace]

DVD only, coming May 30 according to Amazon.

[Bikey]

Cristi Puiu's latest film Sieranevada just confirmed as 'In Competition' at this year Cannes Film Festival.

[AidanKing]

Here is the full New York Times review from which Second Run have taken a quote.

It's good to see Cristi Puiu's first film finally getting a U.K. outing. It looks as if the thriller-style elements bubbling underneath Mr Lazarescu and Aurora might be more prominent here so it will be interesting to compare it to his later work.

Great cover too if the Amazon listing is correct.

[Bikey]

That is the final cover art.
Thanks!

[Alphonse Tram]

That's a very nice cover, sums the film up well. I've had the Romanian disc for years (and Cigarettes and Coffee on another Romanian DVD) but I'm almost tempted for the essay alone - plus this is a new HD source.

Any Puiu on disc is good news, can't wait for his new film at Cannes.

[Bikey]

"STUFF AND DOUGH had already strongly hinted at his capabilities as an unblinking social observer, a darkly humorous satirist, and a showman capable of whipping up scenes of frazzled intensity from nothing"

David Jenkins reviews Cristi Puiu's STUFF AND DOUGH in the latest Little White Lies magazine

[Bikey]

Full details of our STUFF AND DOUGH release now up at our website

[Bikey]

Ian Schultz reviews STUFF AND DOUGH at Psychotronic Cinema

[Bikey]

"A blend of a buddy road movie and Spielberg's Duel shot a typically rough-and-ready social realist style and tinged with black humour at the grim realities of life... manages to be both exhilarating and mundane; funny and chilling; bleak and hopeful"

Ben Nicolson at CineVue on Puiu's STUFF AND DOUGH

[Bikey]

"A Hitchcockian road movie about life in post-Ceaușescu Romania... a slender and restrained film, yet this austerity masks a finely tuned script about the difficulties of navigating between corruption and survival when individual aspiration is put above all else"

4-star review by Patrick Gamble in The Skinny

[Bikey]

'10 essential Romanian directors' - and featuring Cristi Puiu (naturally) - as selected by Michael Brooke as an introduction to the BFI Southbank's terrific 'Revolution in Realism: The New Romanian Cinema' season.

Puiu's STUFF AND DOUGH (plus his 2004 short CIGARETTES AND COFFEE) screens on Sunday June 12th, and Monday June 13th followed by Cristi Puiu in conversation.

[Bikey]

Beaver

[Bikey]

"A vigorous and engaging debut"

Barry Didcock at Herald Scotland on STUFF AND DOUGH

[Bikey]

"Watching Stuff and Dough I kept on thinking of Spielberg’s Duel and Monte Hellman’s Two Lane Blacktop – there’s something about the deadzone tone of the latter film here. Which in my opinion makes this a must see."

Colin Dibben at Close-Up Film

[Bikey]

"An engrossing start to the Romanian New Wave is given all of the care and attention we've come to expect from the mighty Second Run label"

Clydefro Jones at Digital Fix

[Bikey]

"An excellent presentation of this auspicious – and engrossing – debut"

James Oliver at MovieMail

[Bikey]

"Stuff and Dough subverts expectations by finding tension and unease in the mundane... filled with a muted by sly wit and a curiosity about human nature.
The director-approved HD transfer looks about as pristine as SD PAL video will allow"

Mondo Digital

[Bikey]

"A hugely impressive first feature - great to have it available... An impeccable transfer"

Trevor Johnston reviews in the latest Sight & Sound

[Bikey]

Cristi Puiu's latest, brilliant, work SIERANEVADA gets its UK premiere at this year's London Film Festival