Collective

The story is so mind-blowing, I am afraid we’ll look crazy. (Povestea îi atît de halucinantă încît mi-e teamă că o să părem nebuni) 

 I was curious to see this documentary. I’ll admit I wasn’t aware of it before its Oscar nomination, but what piqued my curiosity was the fact it was nominated for both best international movie and best documentary, it’s only the second time it happened in the history of the Oscars (the first one was Honeyland, in 2019, from North Macedonia). So what makes it so special that it can be considered a movie also? Well, first of all it’s an observational documentary, there are no interviews or voice overs, you are just merely witnessing the development of the events. First we have the enquiry of Cătălin Tolontan and his colleagues, journalist at the newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor, that started an investigation after a fire at the club Colectiv caused 27 victims and 180 injured. What he uncovered was more absurd than anyone could have ever imagined and it demolished the entire Romanian health system: the disinfectant they were using in the hospitals was 10 times diluted, it was basically inefficient. Because of that many Colectiv injured died later, as they got infected in the hospital. The news originated a great scandal in Romania with the resignation of the health minister and the takeover of a new health minister Vlad Voiculescu. He becomes the other protagonist of the movie. We witness him trying to save a corrupt system rotten to its core, but even him must admit that it’s almost impossible to come clean from something like that. 

 The other protagonists are the victims of the fire:Tedy Ursuleanu, a young woman who despite the moral and physical trauma she suffered continues to inspire others through her courage and art; the last protagonist is the father of one of the victims of the fire. We follow him to the cemetery to pay tribute to his defunct son. One of the most powerful and atrocious scenes was the secret video of a patient eaten by maggots on his hospital bed. It seems to come straight from a horror movie and you wonder how was this possible, how could the government be so indifferent to someone’s pain. 

 It’s a great investigative movie, similar movies like Spotlight or All the president’s men come to mind, but unlike these movies it’s not a reconstruction of the events, it’s inside the events, it doesn’t get more realistic than this. The real hero of the movie is certainly Cătălin Tolontan, it took a lot of courage for him and his colleagues(Mirela Neag especially) to expose a national health scandal, jeopardizing their own safety and bearing criticism from other journalists for creating dismay. The whole documentary it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s necessary to understand the truth. In a world where there is too much fake news we need movies like this and journalists like Tolontan that always search for the truth and to restore our faith in journalism.