About

Cristi, a corrupt Bucharest cop on the payroll of the local mafia, has become embroiled in the very drug-money-laundering operation which he has been tasked with investigating. He has discovered that his superiors (themselves hardly impervious to bribes) suspect him and have placed secret surveillance cameras in his apartment. He knows exactly where those cameras are but must carry on as normal to avoid detection. 

A crooked businessman, who knows where 30 million euros of the mobsters' money is hidden, has been imprisoned and an elaborate plan is formulated to free him. In order to play his part in the operation and communicate with his co-conspirators in a code the police cannot crack, Cristi is required to learn Silbo, the ancestral (and quite genuine) whistling language on the Spanish Canary island of Gomera. 

What ensues is a fast-paced and intricate gangster noir, replete with a tangle of double-crossings, multiple plot twists, money in mattresses and a beguiling femme fatale. The film represents a major stylistic departure for its director, Corneliu Porumboiu, whose previous films have been austere, rigorously linear and understated in the manner of the 'Romanian New Wave'. What we have in The Whistlers is a cleverly structured, very stylish and highly entertaining crime thriller, suffused with bone-dry black comedy. The film also benefits from a fine lead performance from Vlad Ivanov (last seen at RFS in 2018 in Graduation) and an eclectic soundtrack, which includes the judicious use of Iggy Pop's 1977 track, The Passenger.

Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange's Box Office online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events, by telephone 020 8240 2399 or in person.

For further information on RFS and the programme of films, please visit
http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk