He wasn't the type to kill himself - more the type to kill someone

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Movies of 2020...

#4 : Colectiv (Collective)

Enraging documentary from Romania, following a journalist’s investigation into hospital deaths after a 2015 nightclub fire – which revealed pervasive corruption that contributed to scores of fatalities through poorly maintained medical facilities.

The highest film on the list I've not ever heard of, so it probably won't surprise you to hear that I've not watched this Romanian documentary.  I do like a good documentary, although of the eight on the list so far, I think Boys State (at #50) has probably been my favourite although Love Child (#38) runs it close, so I haven't necessarily agreed with the critics.  This was on quite a few "best of 2020" lists though, so I'm looking forward to it.

And lordy, it's got a bit of a start to it - four stark sentences on screen explaining that the nightclub fire in question killed 27 people, mostly because there were no fire exits, which caused widespread protests, which resulted in the government stepping down.  Oh, and by the way, another 37 people died of further injuries over the coming weeks, despite often not being that badly injured.  WHAT?!?  And then they've show some video of the fire breaking out.  Wow - this is pretty hardcore.

So this film starts off as an investigation into the 37 that died afterwards - bacterial infection appears to be general cause and people have a slight suspicion that maybe that shouldn't have been quite so common give that they were all in hospital at the time.  And the rumour is that this might be because the company making the disinfectant used by the hospitals was diluting it to such an extent that, well, it didn't actually work as a disinfectant.  And a team of journalists think that maybe this might be a story of interest - they're good, I tell you.

And so, fifteen minutes in, we've already got a major breaking story here - which just makes you wonder what we're going to hear in the next 90 minutes!  I have a suspicion it's going to be quite nasty indeed.  And well, basically the corruption just keeps getting bigger and bigger - it's shocking but at the same time you find yourself just laughing as each revelation is revealed.  I'd love to tell you more, but it would spoil the film if you choose to watch it.  

Catalin Tolontan, the lead journalist dude (who works for the Sports Gazette, obviously) is a lovely guy and exactly the sort of person you want doing this shit - quiet, respectful, utterly dogged in his determination to track down those responsible and always able to back up his statements with facts.  His team are an interesting mix of passionate and dispassionate, which makes for a fascinating and very watchable dynamic.

The men from the ministry in their flashy suits are comedy material, the first is an amusingly rubbish nasty piece of work whilst the second one is at least trying, but can't quite get his head around the nightmare situation he's been "promoted" into and to his credit, he gives the cameras good access during this period and he proves to have a surprising amount of backbone and humanity by the end of the film.

Some of the footage of the surviving burns victim(s) is horrific and heartbreaking - it's not particularly required but it doesn't hurt in providing a bit more impact (although you really can't complain that this film lacks impact).  But the robot hand is amazing though (and I bet you weren't expecting that sentence, were you?)

It's a serious film, but it's a very serious subject with massively serious implications - shocking is not too strong a word, particularly regarding some of the bureaucratic nightmares that are involved at times.  In a lot of ways it feels more like a drama, except that some of it is too far-fetched to be believable - for example, disinfectants that aren't fit for purpose can only be withdrawn from use by the company that supplied them, but the company that supplied them can't withdraw them because the courts have frozen their accounts.  How are you supposed to believe that - let alone work around it?!?  It also provides some very black humour, including the title quote (which is provided as a character reference) and the following conversations featuring the minister

"That patient, I gather he wasn't seriously burned". "How is he now?" "He died last night"

"If you say that, people will say that our agency is under political influence" "But that's the truth, isn't it?" "Well, yes"

I realise that documentaries aren't for everyone but, if you like them, this is a fine example which covers a huge story very well, considering both the small and the big pictures which provides a good balance.  It doesn't exactly give you a great deal of hope that things are going to be fixed going forward any time soon, but as the minister says these things can take decades.  I tell you what though, it's a good job there's no large scale corruption around health based decisions in this country - I'm looking at you, Track and Trace...

At the time of writing, the film is available to rent on all the usual channels - which gives you an idea as to the regard in which this obscure Romanian documentary (which was the first Romanian film to be nominated for an Oscar) is held.  Well worth a (somewhat depressing) watch.

#5 - A beautiful, beautiful film
#3 - A tricky watch