Director Cristian Mungiu’s sixth feature film, Fjord, centers on a religious Romanian family that moves to a small hamlet in rural Norway. The story follows Mamma, played by Renata Reinsve; Tata, played by Sebastian Stan; and their children. The parents are openly religious, proselytizing, and believe in punitive discipline rather than gentle parenting, according to the source material.
Set in a contemporary context where the secular environment shows suspicion toward the devout, the film explores what constitutes discipline versus punishment. To construct the narrative, Mungiu spent roughly eight years conducting research, following reports on immigrant families in Nordic countries, visiting Norway, and speaking with families involved in prominent cases, lawyers, press, translators, the Norwegian child welfare agency Barnevernet, and local non-governmental organizations.
Examining minority values and tolerance
In interviews surrounding the film’s release, Mungiu discussed the central question raised by Fjord: whether societies recognize “good minorities” and “bad minorities.” He noted that while society values inclusion and tolerance for many groups, tolerance should also extend to minorities whose values are not universally shared, provided that violence is universally condemned.
Mungiu noted that the film avoids offering simplistic conclusions or guiding the audience toward a single takeaway. Instead, it presents an external situation and relies on viewers to exercise critical judgment when analyzing the characters and their arguments.
From journalism to filmmaking
Mungiu’s background includes working in the press starting in 1987 in Romania during communist times, an experience that helped shape his writing and observational style. Unable to attend film school during the dictatorial reign of Nicolae Ceaușescu due to restrictions on the process, he pursued journalism and photography as close alternatives to storytelling before transitioning to cinema after the collapse of communism.
In Fjord, Mungiu balances the perspective of the immigrant family by introducing a second, fully fictional Norwegian family with children who share the values of the local society. The interaction between these two households forces a dialogue where differing cultural values collide.
