Don’t Get Me Wrong

How to stop the rain, whether god exists: these are among the profound questions that occupy the minds of Alexandru and Ocsy, two schizophrenic patients in the Calugareni Neuropsychiatric Centre in Romania. Throughout the film, the two friends discuss such scientific and philosophical matters as we observe them and their fellow patients going about their strange daily routines, while the centre’s nurses are kept out of view. One man happily moves pebbles from left to right, from right to left, day in day out. Another patient lying in his bed stares at colourful projections on the wall, and another spends his time diligently caring for others less physically able than himself. In precisely composed images, accompanied by light piano music and evocative atmospheric sound, the director registers the tiny details of the environment in the institution. A harsh world, far removed from normality, is transformed into the sublime.