Cristian Mungiu

Beyond the Hills

Beyond the Hills

With this arresting drama based on notorious real-life events, Cristian Mungiu mounts a complex inquiry into faith, fanaticism, and indifference. At a desolate Romanian monastery, a young novice nun, Voichița (Cosmina Stratan), reunites with her former companion Alina (Cristina Flutur), who plans to take her to Germany. But Voichița proves unwilling to abandon her calling, and Alina becomes increasingly desperate to reclaim her devotion, putting the outsider at odds with the monastery’s ascetic priest—and precipitating a painfully misguided, brutal attempt to save her soul. A naturalistic tragedy with the dark force of a folktale, anchored by the fraught dynamic between cinema newcomers Flutur and Stratan (who shared the best actress prize at Cannes), Beyond the Hills bears powerful witness to individuals at cross-purposes and institutions ill-equipped to help those most in need.

Film Info

  • Romania
  • 2012
  • 152 minutes
  • Color
  • 2.39:1
  • Romanian
  • Spine #923

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • 2K digital transfer, approved by director Cristian Mungiu, with 5.1 surround DTS‑HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with Mungiu
  • The Making of “Beyond the Hills,” a documentary from 2013, produced by Mungiu
  • Press conference from the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, featuring Mungiu and actors Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuţă, and Dana Tapalagă
  • Deleted scenes
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Doru Pop

New cover by Steve Chow

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • 2K digital transfer, approved by director Cristian Mungiu, with 5.1 surround DTS‑HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with Mungiu
  • The Making of “Beyond the Hills,” a documentary from 2013, produced by Mungiu
  • Press conference from the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, featuring Mungiu and actors Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuţă, and Dana Tapalagă
  • Deleted scenes
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Doru Pop

New cover by Steve Chow

Beyond the Hills
Cast
Cosmina Stratan
Voichiţa
Cristina Flutur
Alina
Valeriu Andriuţă
Priest
Dana Tapalagă
Mother Superior
Credits
Director
Cristian Mungiu
Written by
Cristian Mungiu
Inspired by the nonfiction novels of
Tatiana Niculescu Bran
Produced by
Cristian Mungiu
Coproducers
Pascal Caucheteux
Coproducers
Grégoire Sorlat
Coproducers
Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Coproducers
Luc Dardenne
Coproducers
Jean Labadie
Coproducers
Bobby Păunescu
Cinematography by
Oleg Mutu
Film editing by
Mircea Olteanu
Production designers
Călin Papură
Production designers
Mihaela Poenaru
Sound recordist
Cristian Tarnoveţchi
Mix
Christinel Şirli

Current

Beyond the Hills: Offscreen Cinema
Beyond the Hills: Offscreen Cinema

Drawing as much from the horror-movie canon as from religious iconography, Cristian Mungiu provoked the ire of the Orthodox Church with this unrelenting account of a real-life exorcism.

By Doru Pop