Having never been to Romania and not knowing the language, I only know the country from reports, movies, and stories from some friends who went there (they were impressed with Dracula's castle). A solid history lesson about the country can be found in Radu Jude's "Aferim!", Romania's submission for Best Foreign Language Film to the 88th Academy Awards. This epic, filmed in black and white, depicts a man and his son traveling across Wallachia in 1835 in search of an escaped Roma boy. In the process, they come across a variety of people, each with their own customs, and sometimes own prejudices. Forget anything that you've assumed about old Romania, because you're in for a shock!
I just saw Jude's "I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians" (about the Romanian army's massacre of Jews during WWII, and the country's trouble coming to terms with it). Clearly Jude is a fine, competent director, adept at showing his country's history and how the history can inform current problems. I understand that co-star Luminita Gheorghiu (who died last year) was known as Romania's Meryl Streep.
Anyway, it's a fine piece of work. I'll be eager to see Radu Jude's future work, as well as the output from other doyens of the Romanian New Wave.
I just saw Jude's "I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians" (about the Romanian army's massacre of Jews during WWII, and the country's trouble coming to terms with it). Clearly Jude is a fine, competent director, adept at showing his country's history and how the history can inform current problems. I understand that co-star Luminita Gheorghiu (who died last year) was known as Romania's Meryl Streep.
Anyway, it's a fine piece of work. I'll be eager to see Radu Jude's future work, as well as the output from other doyens of the Romanian New Wave.