Aferim!

Set in 1835 Wallachia, a society of boyar estates and provincial towns. The era sits between uprisings and reforms, where law enforcement blends with customary punishment and mercy is rare. The journey and trials reveal a world where time moves slowly and survival depends on navigating power.

The story unfolds across the rural interior of Wallachia. The landscape features monasteries, peasant homesteads, and markets where travellers mingle with Roma communities and enslaved people. Power and social hierarchy shape daily life, with the scars of hajduk violence lingering on the roads and in taverns.

⚖️ Justice

The film probes the friction between the letter of the law and true mercy. Costandin’s cautious pragmatism clashes with the victims’ pleas, highlighting how systemic power dictates outcomes. The decision to sell Țintiric exposes how justice becomes a tool of social control rather than moral resolution.

🕯️ Moral Ambiguity

Characters operate in a world where good and bad lie along a murky line. Even Costandin’s nostalgia and loyalty are tempered by necessity, showing how survival forces compromises. There are no clear heroes, only people negotiating harsh realities.

🪙 Slavery

Carfin’s status as Roma slave and Țintiric’s status as a runaway child expose a society built on subjugation. The narrative foregrounds dehumanization as a mechanism of control and humiliation. The brutal acts reveal how power preserves itself through violence.

🏛️ Power

The boyar class wields public authority and personal brutality to enforce dominance, as seen in Carfin’s castration and public taunting. The travelers and officials move through a system where status and wealth dictate both fate and mercy. The film scrutinizes how hierarchies sustain oppression.