This anthology film is sly, wry, funny and illuminating.
Two words to strike terror into the heart of the average movie fan: portmanteau film. Two words to reignite some hope: Cristian Mungiu.
Tales From The Golden Age began life as a solo project for the Palme d’Or winner in which he planned to write and direct a fictional feature base on real-life urban legends from Romania’s communist era under the rule of Nicolae Ceauşescu. Instead, in a move that the collectivist system would have applauded, he invited four of Romania’s most promising young filmmakers to join him.
The result is five vignettes which, collectively, paint a picture of Romania that is at once bleak but strangely nostalgic. What shines through is the proud spirit of the Romanian people, who found ways to endure in a system that veered unpredictably from the comically ineffective to the starkly insidious.
Published 29 Oct 2009
A portmanteau movie! Oh: with Cristian Mungiu.
Sly, wry, funny and illuminating.
Communism is always good for a few chuckles.
By Anton Bitel
Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu returns with a searing love story that riffs on both The Exorcist and Black Narcissus.
By Dana Knight
Directors like Bogdan Mirică are challenging their national cinema’s austere image.
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