One Floor Below

There is no psychology of the throes of guilt, as you might expect. Nor is there any trial of indifference and cowardice, as Lucas Belvaux did with his 38 témoins (One Night). After the tragedy, Pãtrașcu leads the same life as before. He continues to roam the city filling out forms, getting vehicles checked, answering the phone. It is rather his conscience that is affected, like a castle under siege, prey to doubts: it is less a question of being interested in the guilt of the presumed killer than of bringing out the inner voice of the unwitting ‘accomplice’. A voice, then, but Radu Muntean also excels in describing, through the attention paid to his performer’s body language, the upheaval that physically affects Pãtrașcu on a daily basis. The film reflects this repetitive and meticulous work: it sticks to the gestures and movements of the witness in spite of himself with an equally rigorous formal system. With an economy of both formal and financial means (the film was shot in twenty-five days), the film makes Pãtrașcu, who is in every shot, a clear, stoic figure who stands out against a backdrop overtaken by vagueness. (Raphaëlle Pireyre, Morgan Pokée; critikat.com)�