The director orchestrates his action with slippery subtlety and droll humor, and he continually surprises on his way to an expressively non-verbal finale of light and music.

It has such a playful attitude toward genre...absurd but quite genuine.

Romanian film-maker Corneliu Porumboiu dispenses with the miserabilism associated with his country's cinema in this tart romp about a tangle of double crossings.

Corneliu Porumboiu's The Whistlers is a tight, satisfying crime yarn - even if its small quirks and arthouse sheen sometimes get in the way of the good time its offering.