OSCARS 2021: Collective (2019)

Last year, something unprecedented happened at the Oscars that didn't get much press. For the first time ever, a film from the Best Documentary category crossed over to the International Feature category. This had, somehow, never happened before in the nearly one hundred years the Oscars had existed. Even more surprisingly, the exact same thing happened this year. Another documentary from Eastern Europe has earned a spot in the same two categories. That film is “Collective” and it's a much different sort of story than last year's “Honeyland.” I don't know if some sort of precedence has been set now but, in this case, it's certainly deserved.

In 2015, a fire broke out at the Romania nightclub Colectiv. Because proper emergency exits had not been installed, twenty-seven people were killed. In the months following the tragedy, thirty-seven people died in the hospitals due to infections. Writers from the Sports Gazette magazine, led by journalist Cătălin Tolontan, soon uncover a massive web of corruption in Romania's medical sector. This leads to shake-ups in the country's government, with Vlad Voiculescu coming on as the new Minister of Health. Voicuescu begins an uphill battle to root out the crimes and corruption that is costing lives in the county every single day.

“Collective” is a real life story that unfolds like a captivating novel. It begins with one horrible event that unlocks a pathway towards a hundred other terrible deceptions. It's soon uncovers that every hospital in Romania was using heavily diluted disinfectants to clean their medical equipment, allowing deadly bacteria to fester in operating rooms. This was a known fact and people at every administrative level were paid off to let it pass. That the former Minister of Health was a former hospital administrator himself. Every reveal is followed by a more shocking one. Such as footage of burn victims with maggots squirming in their wounds, a mysterious suicide, incriminating audio, and a scam-like operation being run involving organ transplants.

That “Collective” unfolds as such a compelling procedural is truly a testament to director Alexander Nanau and his team. Sometimes, he captures images that are so perfect, so fittingly ironic, that they would feel too on-the-nose in a narrative film. The metal band that was on-stage the night of the Colectiv fire were singing a song about corruption, about raging against those that betray you. A group of activists, protesting the medical corruption, happen to gather outside a building with the word “Pain” written on it. During a press conference, the parents of the people who died in the hospital burn units talk to the press... Behind an advertisement talking about having a brighter tomorrow. I don't know if these were intentional choices or just happy accidents but I have to commend the filmmakers for grabbing a hold of these images.

Despite all the information “Collective” relays, the film never looses track of the human element either. It repeatedly returns to a survivor of the fire, who lost a hand and several fingers. She poses for artfully nude photographs, showing no fear of exposing her scars. Two figures especially emerge as the story's heroes. Cătălin Tolontan feels it is his responsibility as a journalist, to inform the people of the truth. He often faces down belligerent government authorities or television interviewers. By the film's end, the journalists' families are even being threatened. Yet Tolotan is also motivated by something else: He repeatedly expresses guilt for not reporting the corruption soon, a very humanizing moment. Vlad Voiculescu, meanwhile, strikes the viewer as a fundamentally good guy. He describes clear disgust with the neglect in the hospitals. While on the phone with an administrator, the man begs Voiculescu not to go public with the truth, while the minister repeatedly stresses that it's the right thing to do. These heroes are our guides through “Collective's” dark world.

It's easy to see why “Collective” would appeal so much to American Academy voters. A story of flagrant political corruption, of government officials performing crimes in broad day light and assuming they'll never get caught, seems awfully relevant after the last four years. Even story elements involving a right-wing news industry eager to cover up lies, a world that is aggressive towards an independent press willing to report facts, and medical corners being cut ring as very true right now. Ultimately, “Collective” is astonishing filmmaking, a powerfully directed motion picture that tells a sobering story about the abuse of power. [9/10]