Crulic – The Path to Beyond – Crulic – drumul spre dincolo (2011)

Directed by: Anca Damian | 73 minutes | documentary, animation, biography, drama

“It can all start with a phone call,” 33-year-old Romanian Claudiu Crulic introduces his story. That conscious phone call from the Romanian consulate turns out to announce his death. Crulic tells his story from beyond (whatever the title, albeit somewhat hidden, reflects). It’s an intriguing choice from director Anca Damian. A choice that is not without consequences. But first, let’s take a look at Crulic’s story and why it’s worth telling.

In 2008 Claudiu Crulic made headlines worldwide. A Romanian guest worker who dies in a Polish detention center after a months-long hunger strike, which on further investigation costs some high-ranking officials their jobs. Crulic’s hunger strike was a protest against the Polish legal system, which offered him no chance as an outsider. Based largely on meticulous notes by Crulic himself, the documentary sketches the almost Kafkaesque bureaucratic situation in which the young Romanian finds himself and which ultimately costs him his life.

Two things stand out about the documentary. First, the style. ‘Crulic’ consists almost entirely of animation and stop-motion. Virtually the only link with reality are about a hundred photos by Claudiu Crulic that are shown or manipulated (in animation form). And secondly, the already mentioned choice to let the dead speak for themselves. As in ‘American Beauty’ (1999), the narrator presents his story calmly, with virtually no resentment and with room for irony. Crulic does not come with an indictment, but with a statement. And rests further in the course of events.

Both choices make the documentary more personal, but the second poses a major problem. It is unclear whose story is actually being told – that of Claudiu Crulic herself or that of the documentary maker. This confusion is exacerbated when a (English!) voice-over appears somewhere halfway through, which, apart from providing some business information, marks a few times when Claudiu’s life could have been saved.

Although beautifully portrayed, it remains unclear what exactly Damian is saying. Crulic’s innocence seems to have been proven posthumously and those responsible for the proceedings have lost their jobs. So “Crulic” won’t be an indictment. Rather, it seems that Damian is mainly concerned with the manner of presentation. Telling a (certainly in Romania) story in a new way. Show the power and possibilities of animation. And she succeeded with flying colors. But it remains difficult to call ‘Crulic’ a documentary pur sang.