romanian cinema

I´m a Communist Biddy

I´m a Communist Biddy joins the ranks of great Romanian post 2000 movies  and made me really proud to be Romanian. I have to say,  the way Europe regards Romania, both due to the problems with the Roma and on account of the crimes committed by Eastern Europeans, pride is not the first thing I have in mind when I think of my mother country. Pride seems to be reserved for those with a great historical past or with a blooming economy. Luckily, this is where culture comes in. One shouldn´t judge a book by its cover and neither should one judge a nation by its reputation. And while Romania´s people are the ones who bring shame to their country, they are also the ones who save it from disgrace.

But let´s get back to the movie. I´m a Communist Biddy is a warm and humorous family drama sprinkled with bizarre elements of Romanian culture, the tuica drinking, the living in the past and the worshiping of all things foreign. The daughter who emigrated to Canada and then moved to America comes back with her fiancé Alain, whom her parents insist on calling Alin, since that is a common Romanian name and they can´t be bothered with foreign pronunciation. One of the presents they bring home is a sort of an egg cutter that shapes the egg into a square. This absurd device is perfect to illustrate the admiration Romanians have for all things fancy, although they might not have a function at all. The whole audience laughed as hard as they could at this recognition.

After a while, the family is let in on the young couple´s secret, that they are about to lose their home if they don´t pay 15000$ to the bank. The parents agonize about it and end up mortgaging their own apartment to borrow money from a Chinese pawn-broker.

All in all, the movie is not so much about Ceausescu and the old communist times as it is about youth, nostalgia and family values. And since the mother lived her best years under Communism, she idealizes the impact it had on people´s lives.

You should all see it if you get the chance! And while I´m at it, check out this short movie, too!

Source: http://www.oslokino.no

The Child´s Pose

Finally I got around to see the Romanian movie everyone is talking about, the one that won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin film festival. I´m not exactly a patron of the arts, but I love a good movie and I´m quite patriotic, too. 😉 Besides, I really feel that Romanian cinematography has reached new heights, I for one liked each and every one of the movies that won prizes lately.;-)

The Child´s Pose directed by Calin Peter Netzer depicts the Romanian society in such vivid colors of tragic and comic that one can´t help but be sucked into the situation. An affluent family tries to save their only son from the prospects of jail after having killed a child when speeding to overtake another car. The scene is very authentic, you get to see fragments of daily life, interpersonal relationships, the importance of social status, of being well-connected, of keeping up appearances. A bitter mother trying to control her son´s life, including his choice of partner, is struggling to get him to acknowledge her efforts. The son, exhausted by his mother´s interference, is trying to find a path of his own to reach maturity, by accepting responsibility. An honest portrait of Romania with all its levels of corruption, glam and glitz, morality and amorality. Highly recommended!

Source: http://www.cinemarx.ro