Review: 'R.M.N.' is a must-see Romanian drama — and a Christmas movie like no other
If "R.M.N." had been released in American theaters at the end of last year, it would have made for a sensational piece of seasonal counterprogramming. A riveting downer from the gifted Romanian writer-director Cristian Mungiu, the movie begins a few days before Christmas, when a man named Matthias (Marin Grigore), taking a break from his job slicing open carcasses in a German slaughterhouse, gets called a "lazy gypsy" and throws an instinctive, ill-advised punch. Casting a nervous glance behind him, he quickly leaves and hitchhikes his way home to his small Transylvanian village, eager to reunite with his emotionally troubled 8-year-old son, Rudi (Mark Blenyesi), and maybe rekindle a flame with
