Aurora

Aurora is the second film in Christi Puiu’s Six Stories from the Outskirts of Bucharest. Following the widely praised The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, about a man at the end of his life, Puiu focuses on Viorel, a 42-year-old divorced man without any apparent aim in life, frustrated by the circumstances in which he lives and the people around him. The director also plays the protagonist, who is followed for two days intensively during his mysterious and clearly motivated wanderings around a dark and grey Bucharest. Puiu leaves plenty of room for us to form our own views on the impenetrable Viorel and what motivates him, purely by observing his actions and behaviour. Puiu does not provide any commentary, but challenges the viewer to consider his own expectations and prejudices. A reflection with pitch black humour on the intrinsic evil of mankind.