Neînvinsa-i dragostea

I remember vaguely having seen this at the end of summer 2004, i think, and i keep the memory of a nice enough entertainment, either conventional as most Romanian movies are.

If one gets over the Romanian director's incapacity of conveying a clear message in a compelling way, one can at least enjoy some really funny moments with a few of our best comedians and also a bit of eroticism and black humor, in a parody at horror with a precise target.

Plus, the social content is clear. The guy definitely tries to take a stance about lack of morals and honesty, but he can't find the means to take it to a significant conclusion.

Sadly it all got lost among the other Romanian films in those awful years when the old dinosaurs were on their way to the gutter.

Although not by far one of the best Romanin movies ever made, this nutty black comedy stands true to its own promises. The storyline gets lost somewhere in the second half, and the ending is positively anticlimactic. However, for about two thirds of the running time the social satire works well enough, with an almost ferocious sharpness, and the erotic content keeps remarcably tame, for a period when everybody supposed that cinematic freedom means plenty of full frontal nudes and explicit sex scenes. The author prefers to use the means of implicit suggestion, oscillating somewhere between decency and lack of courage.

Thankfully, the movie is saved by a great cast, made up of a few of the best Romanian actors, giving the full measure of their talent, and also a bunch of students and amateurs for the first time on screen. Skillful cinematography and a snappy editing, plus the great music score of the Nanu Bros, make up for many of the directing uncertainties. All in all, what it promises, it delivers - in a surprisingly coherent form, by comparison with all the pre-1989 Romanian productions.