cix_one The director is a well known-Romanian stage actor, and the movie (his directorial debut) shows it - or suffers from it, depending on your point of view. The subject of the picture is inspired from a true and painful story of repression under communism. The story is told with humor, but many times the humor is over the top, cheapening somewhat the tragedy that swept over the Eastern block after the second world war.The movie is framed as a fantasy/allegory the director and his crew take a few liberties with the script. The editing however is a bit sloppy (modern cars showing in the background in the field scene, mike booms cutting into the frame) and that left me with a tinge of disappointment.On the bright side, the director's brilliance as an artist shines through in many scenes, such as one in which he masterfully and seamlessly weaves in a silent black and white comedy scene in the best Laurel and Hardy tradition.

dromasca I have known Horatiu Malaele as one of the young and gifted actors of the Romanian theater. Having left Romania 26 years ago I could see him now and then in movies or theater in TV, and heard only sporadic news about other directions he developed in - stage director, theater manager, satiric cartoons artist. Now I could see his first tentative as a movie director, and it is more than satisfying and certainly much more than just a debut. Make no mistake, this film does not look like the 'minimalistic' style films of the younger and better known generation of Romanian directors, it is more theatrical and inspired from classical Romanian literature in conception and looks deeper back into the history of Romania.The story written by Malaele and satiric author and playwright Adrian Lustig is set in the year 1953, the year of the death of Stalin and is supposed to happen around the time Stalin died, although by a decision that could not have been unintentional the action is set in summertime (allowing for a few beautiful countryside takes) while Stalin died on March 5th that year. In a Romania occupied by the Russian army, the traditional agriculture based on private property and way of life of the Romanian peasants fights a war without chances with the Communist economy and ideology imposed by the occupier. A wedding needs to happen, and what should have been a normal event in the course of life becomes a confrontation between two worlds, as no joy and no noise is allowed while the whole planet is supposed to be in grieving for the loss of the Father of the Peoples. The ending is inevitable and symbolic. Malaele and Lustig are not extremely careful with the historical details - I mentioned the date mismatch - but they are extremely true in building a set of characters which are full of color, nuances and humor - a kind of combination of the Romanian literature types encountered in the works of Caragiale and Marin Preda - who by themselves build a world that disappeared and to which this film tries to be a homage. The critic can be made that the negative characters are too schematic, the Communists and the Russian officers look like B-movie villains, but this seems to be intentional again, as the authors seem to say that the whole system that swapped Eastern Europe looked like a bad movies inspired villain system.There are many scenes to remember in this film, which in its best moments reminds the movies of Kusturica at their best. Of course the wedding scene itself is fit for movies anthologies, but I will also keep in mind for long the scene of the screening of the propaganda film in the village, and the closing that gives to the whole movie a different perspective and a supplementary dimension. The team of actors does a very good job, with Meda Andreea Victor shining over all in the role of the bride.I do not know if this was supposed to be a singular tentative in the multiple directions the career of Horatiu Malaele is taking, or whether he plans to continue with other films as director. If he does I will look forward to his future films.

Letitia M There will be others, I hope- since Malaele did such a good job with this first film of his. The movie tells more than it just shows, even if the story is just a little bit loose in places. The essence permeates just fine and the strong symbolism it uses (like in the wedding silent feast or the silly mute comedy scenes), all the thick strokes still leave room for subtleties and interpretation. It naturally flows from the savorous comedy bucolical scenes towards the dark drama at the end. It may very well be regarded as a critique of the Romanian capacity to adapt, our viral submissiveness that can make us just go with the wave, instead of reacting and fighting back. The amenability slowly mutates into fear and corruption. As a matter of fact, didn't we all leave with the circus? We let it control our lives and dictate the rules, we just accepted the yoke and the satire stopped doing the magic trick at some point. Dead and buried, but the communism still wanders around. There are still uprooted people for which the absence is a state of being. People like the quiet mourners, who cannot meet today's society and it's new coutumes without the presence of the dis consideration depicted in the final scene.

dana-franti For me this movie was of a great impact. I left the cinema and have not been able to say a word for more than 15 minutes. I was fascinated. It gave me a deep, profound feeling of genuine art, with incredible complex features gathered together in these 90 minutes of displayed images. A lot of meaning - I am sure for non-Romanians has not the same amount of meaning - and an authentic way of touching the most sensitive parts of the Romanian people, with humor on the most critical aspects of the most absurd time, the communist time of Romania. Malaiele is a great artist, but this film is his masterpiece. I highly recommend you to watch this movie. It is not just a movie, it is a lifetime experience.