A movie in the Visconti's manner. Twilight of a world, slices of Balkan life style, nostalgics desires and precious "dolce far niente". Crust of a old time and his persistent scent. Shadows of past and fall in a Bovary space. Hypocrisy, lies and harlots, drama and lost illusion, search and dissatisfaction. For a person outside of Balkans, a great unknown, a interdict space, exotic land. But is it only a passage between West and Orient? Maybe not. "Craii de Curtea Veche" is the best novel of Mateiu Caragiale's work. For many literary critics is the Masterpiece of Romanian literature. Mircea Veroiu ,himself, is an explorer of soul's abyss, a talented director of metaphors , a dreamer and victim of Commust era. So, this film is, must be, a frame of mind. To describe him is wrong because no word has the taste of secret dream of this small old world, honey and mud, delicacy and lewd torpor, Don Quixote and the deep turpitude. In fact, a story about the friendship and time who fall. About the memories and death, about hope and cruelty. Image of a very old picture, it is nostalgic and good "memento mori".
3 Reviews
a travel
Kirpianuscus12 January 2023
I love the novel. A novel about the agony of a world, seductive mix of honey, gold and mud, defined by the confession of two main characters, with an end with taste of ashes.
I saw this adaptation of the masterpiece of Mateiu I. Caragiale few times. Each occasion was , in a special manner , the first one because, after mz position as small piece of the chorus of critics , I discovered, step by step, the precious gifts of Mircea Veroiu perspective.
Yes, indeed, it is his Craii de Curtea Veche , more than Mateiu s.
But this fact becomes , with each rediscover, natural. It is a film inspired by novel, so, not exactly a faithful adaptation. The last is almost imposible.
The virtues - obvious two. The opening scene , the dream ou author behind the death of Pasadia and the admirable acting of Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan.
The fine work of Ilinca Goia, to. Like Gore Pirgu created by Razvan Vasilescu.
The splendid Maiorica Arnoteanu offered by Gheorghe Dinica.
And the end.
A film for the readers of novel. Easy to critic it but it has the great virtue to propose, in fair, precise manner, the spirit of one of the masterpieces of XX century Romanian literatury. The nudity, the vulgarity ? Each of them is present in book. But, in same measure, I admitt, it is in the spirit of ambiguous, dark, maddy beginning of last decade of Romanian XX century, after the fall of Communist regime.
In short, a wise crafted travel across a lost time..
I saw this adaptation of the masterpiece of Mateiu I. Caragiale few times. Each occasion was , in a special manner , the first one because, after mz position as small piece of the chorus of critics , I discovered, step by step, the precious gifts of Mircea Veroiu perspective.
Yes, indeed, it is his Craii de Curtea Veche , more than Mateiu s.
But this fact becomes , with each rediscover, natural. It is a film inspired by novel, so, not exactly a faithful adaptation. The last is almost imposible.
The virtues - obvious two. The opening scene , the dream ou author behind the death of Pasadia and the admirable acting of Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan.
The fine work of Ilinca Goia, to. Like Gore Pirgu created by Razvan Vasilescu.
The splendid Maiorica Arnoteanu offered by Gheorghe Dinica.
And the end.
A film for the readers of novel. Easy to critic it but it has the great virtue to propose, in fair, precise manner, the spirit of one of the masterpieces of XX century Romanian literatury. The nudity, the vulgarity ? Each of them is present in book. But, in same measure, I admitt, it is in the spirit of ambiguous, dark, maddy beginning of last decade of Romanian XX century, after the fall of Communist regime.
In short, a wise crafted travel across a lost time..
Fugit Irreparabile Tempus!
chfstaffing19 February 2018
Well directed, we;; played, good picture, good location. A movie that deserves to be watched. What a pity: director Mircea Veroiu passed away a year (1997) after the movie was launched in theaters! Mateiu Caragiale worked ten years on this novel - the novel was published in 1929. If Hemingway so well described the atmosphere in Pamplona in The Sun Also Rises, Mateiu Caragiale presented very skillfully the life of decadence in Bucharest at the beginning of 20th Century!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
