Entertainment

Dentist and a patient’s ‘cheat’ tooth

It’s hard to think of a better way to take the joy out of Christmas than for a hus band to tell his wife that he’s having an affair with another woman.

That’s exactly what happens in “Tuesday, After Christmas,” the latest winner from the Romanian new wave, which has given us such acclaimed films as “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” and “12:08 East of Bucharest.”

Director Radu Muntean’s intimate drama opens a few days before Christmas, with a married man, Paul, in bed with his young daughter’s dentist, Raluca, with whom he’s been cheating since the summer.

They’re naked, as is fitting in this intimate portrait. The scene goes on for seven minutes, setting the stage for a work consisting mostly of long, talky takes shot with a camera that barely moves.

A key moment comes when the wife, Adriana, joins her husband and daughter for a visit to the dentist.

Adriana suspects nothing; she doesn’t learn the truth until Paul blurts it out later, at home. Devastated, she condemns the man she loves as “my biggest disappointment ever.”

Marital infidelity is hardly a new cinematic topic. But this film is far from cliched, thanks to the literate script and a trio of sensitive performances: Mimi Branescu as Paul; his real-life wife, Mirela Oprisor, as his screen wife, Adriana; and Maria Popistasu as the dentist.

They breathe originality into an oft-told story.