“That’s life” is often heard throughout Lucian Pintilie’s adaptation of Ion Băieșu’s novel The Oak. It’s such a sweeping response to the grotesqueries that mark everyday life amid the death throes of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorship, during which the film is set, that it practically becomes a shibboleth. The words may seem little more than a verbal shrug, but in the mouths of Pintilie’s characters, full to bursting with lust for life, they express a liberatory side of absurdism that goes beyond mere politics. That the meaning and the mechanisms of their lives are unknowable is as much cause for jubilation as despair.
Fittingly, The Oak opens with a death—that of Truica (Virgil Andriescu), former colonel in the Securitate (Romania’s secret police agency during its communist regime) and father to Nela (Maia Morgenstern), the film’s protagonist. As his caretaker, Nela projects for him...
Fittingly, The Oak opens with a death—that of Truica (Virgil Andriescu), former colonel in the Securitate (Romania’s secret police agency during its communist regime) and father to Nela (Maia Morgenstern), the film’s protagonist. As his caretaker, Nela projects for him...
- 4/24/2023
- by William Repass
- Slant Magazine
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSThe Act of Killing. Though he’s known for nonfiction, Joshua Oppenheimer just began production on a musical about the end of the world, fittingly called The End. Filming now in Dublin, it stars Tilda Swinton and George Mackay, via the production company’s website.After 23 years, A.O. Scott is stepping away from film criticism at the New York Times, transitioning to a new role as a critic at large for the Book Review. He conducts his own exit interview.In comedy news, Safdie muse and Razzie record-breaker Adam Sandler was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor this week in Washington, D.C.Finally, we’re thinking of the character actor Lance Reddick this week, who died suddenly last Friday at...
- 3/22/2023
- MUBI
Festival directors from Romania, Poland, Portugal and Greece will talk about the role they play for the local and international industries.
The next episode in our ScreenDaily Talks webinar series will take place July 26 at 15:00 BST / 16:00 Cest and will explore how regional film festivals boost the independent industry.
Click here to register
The panel is in partnership with Transilvania International Film Festival.
They may not attract the star wattage of the A-list festivals but Europe’s big regional festivals are essential events for the film sector ecosystems in their cities and regions.
We talk to festival directors from Romania,...
The next episode in our ScreenDaily Talks webinar series will take place July 26 at 15:00 BST / 16:00 Cest and will explore how regional film festivals boost the independent industry.
Click here to register
The panel is in partnership with Transilvania International Film Festival.
They may not attract the star wattage of the A-list festivals but Europe’s big regional festivals are essential events for the film sector ecosystems in their cities and regions.
We talk to festival directors from Romania,...
- 7/19/2021
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – There was a time in Hollywood when the character actor was a familiar and reassuring presence in great movies and TV series. Shirley Knight, who worked from 1959-2018, was one of those reliable performers. Knight passed away on April 22nd, 2020, at the age of 83.
Shirley Knight was born in Kansas, and came up through the famous Pasadena Theatre School and the Hb Studio in New York City in the 1950s. Her unique look and talent was evident in her Oscar nominated roles in “The Dark At the Top of the Stairs” (1960) and “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962). She worked steadily in film during the 1960s, with roles in “The Group” (1966) and “Petulia” (1968), which have become cult favorites.
In subsequent years, she was cast in films as diverse as “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure” (1979). “Endless Love” (1981), “As Good As it Gets” (1997), “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (2009) and the Blumhouse Production, “Mercy” (2014). On TV,...
Shirley Knight was born in Kansas, and came up through the famous Pasadena Theatre School and the Hb Studio in New York City in the 1950s. Her unique look and talent was evident in her Oscar nominated roles in “The Dark At the Top of the Stairs” (1960) and “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962). She worked steadily in film during the 1960s, with roles in “The Group” (1966) and “Petulia” (1968), which have become cult favorites.
In subsequent years, she was cast in films as diverse as “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure” (1979). “Endless Love” (1981), “As Good As it Gets” (1997), “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (2009) and the Blumhouse Production, “Mercy” (2014). On TV,...
- 4/23/2020
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Considering we are no longer getting a James Bond film this spring, those seeking slick espionage thrills will get a healthy dose (and much more of the unexpected) with The Whistlers, the latest work from Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu, which is now in theaters. Clearly inspired by a number of noir films, today we’re taking a more general look at his favorite movies of all-time.
As voted on in the latest Sight & Sound poll, as well as a recent feature from our friends at Le Cinéma Club, his picks range include a healthy range of world cinema, from Apichatpong Weerasethakul to Michelangelo Antonioni to Éric Rohmer to Yasujirô Ozu. “All of them influenced my way of making movies and also my way of seeing world,” he said of the majority of the selections. Speaking about La Dolce Vita, he added, “I watched it by chance when I was 18 years old.
As voted on in the latest Sight & Sound poll, as well as a recent feature from our friends at Le Cinéma Club, his picks range include a healthy range of world cinema, from Apichatpong Weerasethakul to Michelangelo Antonioni to Éric Rohmer to Yasujirô Ozu. “All of them influenced my way of making movies and also my way of seeing world,” he said of the majority of the selections. Speaking about La Dolce Vita, he added, “I watched it by chance when I was 18 years old.
- 3/11/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Above: Porto FrancoOne could argue that cinema and ideology are intrinsically linked with each other, even when one regards even the most menial, apparently wholly apolitical films, such as comedies and romantic dramas. But what happens to said cinema when this link is brutally severed by a severely traumatic event, such as a regime change? How does this modulate the understanding of cinema in relation to the two main, and apparently opposite concepts that usually applied to political readings: propaganda and subversion? And how does regime change affect ulterior output and cinematic canons, especially if the fallen regime was actively involved in censorship and oppression of free speech?The history of various national cinemas across the second half of the 20th century, correlated with the histories of various dictatorships which professed loyalties to both sides of the political spectrum, may shed valuable insights to the above questions. By and large,...
- 3/4/2020
- MUBI
Previous awardees include Nanni Moretti, Béla Tarr and Andrzej Wajda.
UK writer-director Sally Potter will receive the Fipresci 93 Platinum award at the 8th edition of Transatlantyk Festival to be held in Lodz, Poland from July 13-20.
The festival will also present five of Potter’s films in its Close Up section: Orlando, The Tango Lesson, Yes, Ginger & Rosa and The Party.
Potter directed her first feature film, experimental drama The Gold Diggers, in 1983. She has subsequently directed seven further features, including twice Oscar-nominated Orlando (1992) and last year’s satirical dinner party drama The Party.
The Fipresci 90+ prize celebrates the history...
UK writer-director Sally Potter will receive the Fipresci 93 Platinum award at the 8th edition of Transatlantyk Festival to be held in Lodz, Poland from July 13-20.
The festival will also present five of Potter’s films in its Close Up section: Orlando, The Tango Lesson, Yes, Ginger & Rosa and The Party.
Potter directed her first feature film, experimental drama The Gold Diggers, in 1983. She has subsequently directed seven further features, including twice Oscar-nominated Orlando (1992) and last year’s satirical dinner party drama The Party.
The Fipresci 90+ prize celebrates the history...
- 6/14/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Influential theatre and film director known as the godfather of the Romanian new wave
Until 2005, when the Romanian new wave was launched with Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr Lazarescu, Romanian cinema was little known internationally. However, Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Cătălin Mitulescu, winners of stacks of prestigious awards, all acknowledged the influence of Lucian Pintilie, who has died aged 84.
Unlike Pintilie, these younger directors were able to make films free from the censorship that existed under Nicolae Ceauşescu, the communist despot who had controlled the arts with an iron fist. It was only when Ceauşescu was executed in 1989 that Pintilie was able to make films again in his homeland after many years of self-imposed exile, mostly in France, where he gained a reputation as a theatre director.
Until 2005, when the Romanian new wave was launched with Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr Lazarescu, Romanian cinema was little known internationally. However, Puiu, Cristian Mungiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Cătălin Mitulescu, winners of stacks of prestigious awards, all acknowledged the influence of Lucian Pintilie, who has died aged 84.
Unlike Pintilie, these younger directors were able to make films free from the censorship that existed under Nicolae Ceauşescu, the communist despot who had controlled the arts with an iron fist. It was only when Ceauşescu was executed in 1989 that Pintilie was able to make films again in his homeland after many years of self-imposed exile, mostly in France, where he gained a reputation as a theatre director.
- 5/30/2018
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
The influence on today’s generation of Romanian filmmakers of local auteur Lucian Pintilie, who died earlier this month, is so profound it’s difficult to chart. But, Transilvania Film Festival chief and leading Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu says, his legacy will be felt for many years, and a tribute is planned for the event’s closing ceremony.
“I was his 1st Ad [first assistant director] in 1995 when working on ‘Too Late,’ which was screened in 1996 Cannes main competition,” Giurgiu recalls. “I learned everything from him – it was like attending a second film school.”
Pintilie’s first feature, “Sunday at 6 O’Clock,” a tragedy about two young communist lovers on the run in World War II, won him international attention in 1966.
Because of the director’s extensive background in theater, Giurgiu says, “Pintilie was an absolute master when working with actors. It was mesmerizing to observe how he achieved impressive performances by forcing...
“I was his 1st Ad [first assistant director] in 1995 when working on ‘Too Late,’ which was screened in 1996 Cannes main competition,” Giurgiu recalls. “I learned everything from him – it was like attending a second film school.”
Pintilie’s first feature, “Sunday at 6 O’Clock,” a tragedy about two young communist lovers on the run in World War II, won him international attention in 1966.
Because of the director’s extensive background in theater, Giurgiu says, “Pintilie was an absolute master when working with actors. It was mesmerizing to observe how he achieved impressive performances by forcing...
- 5/23/2018
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Romanian film and theater director Lucian Pintilie died Wednesday at Elias Hospital in Bucharest, three days after being admitted in "critical condition," according to Romanian news reports. He was 84.
Dubbed "the Godfather of the Romanian New Wave," Pintilie — whose early films ran foul of communist authorities forcing him into exile in the early 1970s — was an inspiration to a new generation of Romanian filmmakers who have won international acclaim, including Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Andrei Serban.
Known as a controversial filmmaker from the start, Pintilie's 1968 film Reconstruction — in which a ...
Dubbed "the Godfather of the Romanian New Wave," Pintilie — whose early films ran foul of communist authorities forcing him into exile in the early 1970s — was an inspiration to a new generation of Romanian filmmakers who have won international acclaim, including Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Andrei Serban.
Known as a controversial filmmaker from the start, Pintilie's 1968 film Reconstruction — in which a ...
- 5/17/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Romanian film and theater director Lucian Pintilie died Wednesday at Elias Hospital in Bucharest, three days after being admitted in "critical condition," according to Romanian news reports. He was 84.
Dubbed "the Godfather of the Romanian New Wave," Pintilie — whose early films ran foul of communist authorities forcing him into exile in the early 1970s — was an inspiration to a new generation of Romanian filmmakers who have won international acclaim, including Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Andrei Serban.
Known as a controversial filmmaker from the start, Pintilie's 1968 film Reconstruction — in which a ...
Dubbed "the Godfather of the Romanian New Wave," Pintilie — whose early films ran foul of communist authorities forcing him into exile in the early 1970s — was an inspiration to a new generation of Romanian filmmakers who have won international acclaim, including Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Andrei Serban.
Known as a controversial filmmaker from the start, Pintilie's 1968 film Reconstruction — in which a ...
- 5/17/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Pintilie was known for films including ‘Reconstruction’ and ‘Next Stop Paradise’.
Lucian Pintilie, the Romanian director of film, television, theatre and opera, has died on May 16 in Bucharest at the age of 84, according to local news reports.
Known for films including 1968 drama Reconstruction, Pintilie had a long career in filmmaking, directing his first film Sunday At Six in 1966 and continuing to work throughout his life – he was most recently a co-producer on fellow Romanian Cristi Puiu’s 2016 Palme d’Or nominated Sieranevada.
A graduate of the I.L. Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, Pintilie twice appeared in Competition at Cannes,...
Lucian Pintilie, the Romanian director of film, television, theatre and opera, has died on May 16 in Bucharest at the age of 84, according to local news reports.
Known for films including 1968 drama Reconstruction, Pintilie had a long career in filmmaking, directing his first film Sunday At Six in 1966 and continuing to work throughout his life – he was most recently a co-producer on fellow Romanian Cristi Puiu’s 2016 Palme d’Or nominated Sieranevada.
A graduate of the I.L. Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, Pintilie twice appeared in Competition at Cannes,...
- 5/17/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Cristi Puiu has reteamed with his The Death of Mr. Lazarescu actor Mimi Brănescu on the filmmaker’s fifth feature film currently filming in Bucharest until sometime in March. Filmneweurope reports that the film, repped by the Wild Bunch folks, is targeting a 2016 release. So definitely no Cannes this year. Mandragora’s Cristi & Anca Puiu are producing, while Studioul de Creaţie Cinematografică Romania’s Lucian Pintilie, 2006 d.o.o.’s Mirsad Purivatra and Sabina Branković, Spiritus Movens’ Zdenka Gold, Sisters and Brother Mitevski Production’s Labina Mitevska and Alcatraz Films’ Laurence Clerc and Olivier Thiery-Lapiney are all co-producing.
Gist: Back from a business trip in Paris, a neurologist (Brănescu) at the pinnacle of his career has to pick up his wife so that they can attend a family meal to commemorate his father, who passed away in the previous year. At his mother’s apartment, the guests are awaiting the...
Gist: Back from a business trip in Paris, a neurologist (Brănescu) at the pinnacle of his career has to pick up his wife so that they can attend a family meal to commemorate his father, who passed away in the previous year. At his mother’s apartment, the guests are awaiting the...
- 2/20/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
"The Romanian director Lucian Pintilie made his first film in 1965, the year Nicolae Ceausescu became general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party," writes Ao Scott in the New York Times. "Of the films he was able to complete in Romania, Reenactment [1968] stands among the exemplary works of its region and time. Subtle, difficult and brave, it represents a powerful statement of artistic honesty in a culture of official lies and evasions. Reenactment is included in a two-week retrospective that begins [today] at the Museum of Modern Art. This comprehensive program also offers American audiences a chance to sample Mr Pintilie's more recent films, among them Niki and Flo, a mordant almost-comedy from 2003 that represents a bridge — and also a battle — between the old Romania and the new. It will run for a week at MoMA, receiving a belated and welcome North American premiere." The series runs through March 12.
Los Angeles. "If...
Los Angeles. "If...
- 3/1/2012
- MUBI
Cannes Film Festival won’t be lacking in Romanian films/filmmakers this year. La Source des femmes, the 5th film directed by Radu Mihăileanu, was selected to the official competition, while Mitulescu’s second feature Loverboy was included in Un Certain Regard category. You’ll be able to read more about Cătălin Mitulescu’s film in future article, but among the surprise inclusions in this year's Main Comp is indeed Mihăileanu's latest pic. La Source des femmes is produced by two French companies: EuropaCorp (Luc Besson’s production company) and Elzevir Films, with Belgium's Panache Prods. and Italy's Indigo on board as co-producers. The screenplay was written by the director himself with the help of Alain-Michel Blanc, who also teamed up with Mihăileanu for his previous film, Le Concert – which was a real success, winning two Cesar awards and four Gopo awards. Radu Mihăileanu is born on April 23rd 1958 and...
- 4/25/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Chicago – The wake of the 1960s still resonates on our shores, and entertainment was a viable leader during the era for breaking new barriers. At the recent Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, Shirley Knight, Barbara Parkins and Victoria Sellers were reminders of those special times.
The Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show occurred in September of 2010. The show is a biannual event that brings celebrities to Chicago to meet, sign autographs and interact with their admirers. Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com was there to add the photographic spice to the proceedings.
Shirley Knight of “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962) and “Petulia” (1968)
Shirley Knight has been a working actress since doing an uncredited role in the classic “Picnic” (1955). She made a substantial mark in the early 1960s by being nominated for a Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her first two major films – “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” (1960) and “Sweet Bird of Youth...
The Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show occurred in September of 2010. The show is a biannual event that brings celebrities to Chicago to meet, sign autographs and interact with their admirers. Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com was there to add the photographic spice to the proceedings.
Shirley Knight of “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962) and “Petulia” (1968)
Shirley Knight has been a working actress since doing an uncredited role in the classic “Picnic” (1955). She made a substantial mark in the early 1960s by being nominated for a Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her first two major films – “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” (1960) and “Sweet Bird of Youth...
- 3/15/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Sunday, December 5th concludes the 5th annual Romanian Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas in New York City. This year hosts The Romanian Cultural Institute and curator Mihai Chirilov added the moniker “A New Beginning,” in appreciation of the recent success of what has been dubbed the “Romanian New Wave.” This year, Cristi Puiu, arguably the one who started it all with his 2006 debut The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, returns with his second feature Aurora. The three-hour long film premiered earlier this year at the New York Film Festival to resoundingly positive reviews. Also returning from Nyff are Radu Montean’s Tuesday, After Christmas (opening May 25 at Film Forum) and Andrei Ujica’s The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, which opened the festival. All three were standouts this past May on the Croisette. Bobby Paunescu, producer of “Aurora” and “Lazarescu”, screens his directorial debut Francesca. Rounding out the “Romanian New Wave” roster of attendees is Razvan Radulescu,...
- 12/5/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
This weekend, December 3-5, Tribeca Cinemas is proud to host the 5th Romanian Film Festival in New York City, featuring a roster of shining stars from past and present. Hosted, as always, by The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, this year's festival is entitled A New Beginning and will feature the best and most recent films from Romania's unique and critically exalted national body of contemporary cinema. These include works from filmmakers at the forefront of the Romanian New Wave, such as Cristi Puiu, Radu Muntean and Razvan Radulescu, as well as debut features from Constantin Popescu and Bobby Paunescu. For its opening night, the festival will present the highly anticipated new work from Andrei Ujica (Videograms of a Revolution), The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu. The festival will conclude with the landmark Romanian film Carnival Scenes by filmmaker Lucian Pintilie, featuring celebrated Romanian stage and screen actor Victor Rebengiuc...
- 12/1/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
In 2010, filmmakers Mihai Ionescu and Tiberiu Iordan will have completed their first feature film. In June, at Moscow Film Festival, their movie – Different Mothers (Despre alte mame) – received the Award of the International Film Club's Federation. This Friday, the film will be released domestically in Romania. Different Mothers is based on a true story that happened to polish movie director Krzysztof Kieslowski during the filming Dworzec (Station). Kieslowski and his small team were filming in a railway station during the night for a documentary when the police came and asked them for their footage to see if it can be used as evidence in a criminal case. What Kieslowski filmed couldn’t help the police at all. But the Polish director started to think a lot about “What if… the police found something useful? What if… I had moved the camera a little to the left and not to the right?...
- 11/1/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
MILAN -- The Locarno Film Festival on Monday announced the creation of Back in Locarno, an initiative that will give directors who got their start at the 60-year-old event a chance to come back and host a retrospective based on their original film.
Helmers making the trip to the lakeside Swiss village this year include Italy's Marco Bellocchio with "I Pugni in Tasca" and Hungarian director Istvan Szabo with "Almodozasok Kora" -- both of which took home Locarno's Silver Sail prize in 1965.
Also on tap are 1969 Golden Leopard winner Raul Ruiz ("Tres Tristes Tigres), 1980 Golden Leopard winner Marco Tullio Giordana ("Maledetti vi Amero"), and Catherine Breillat, a Golden Leopard nominee in 1988 for "36 Fillette".
The Locarno festival focuses on emerging directors and has prominently featured early films from such directors as Roberto Rossellini, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Verhoeven, Lucian Pintilie, Alain Tanner, Edward Yang, Alexandr Sokurov, Abbas Kiarostami and Spike Lee.
This year's festival is scheduled for Aug. 1-11.
Helmers making the trip to the lakeside Swiss village this year include Italy's Marco Bellocchio with "I Pugni in Tasca" and Hungarian director Istvan Szabo with "Almodozasok Kora" -- both of which took home Locarno's Silver Sail prize in 1965.
Also on tap are 1969 Golden Leopard winner Raul Ruiz ("Tres Tristes Tigres), 1980 Golden Leopard winner Marco Tullio Giordana ("Maledetti vi Amero"), and Catherine Breillat, a Golden Leopard nominee in 1988 for "36 Fillette".
The Locarno festival focuses on emerging directors and has prominently featured early films from such directors as Roberto Rossellini, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Verhoeven, Lucian Pintilie, Alain Tanner, Edward Yang, Alexandr Sokurov, Abbas Kiarostami and Spike Lee.
This year's festival is scheduled for Aug. 1-11.
- 5/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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