De ce eu?

Based on a genuine true story, the facts presented are true and sadly the battle against corruption is still very much alive to this day.

''De ce eu?'' is a Romanian political thriller, starring Emilian Oprea as Cristian Panduru, a young and honest prosecutor who is in charge of an investigation which is in the spotlight of the nation's media and concerns a corrupt (?) older prosecutor accused of a variety of professional misconducts. The movie portrays a deeply unethical, untrustworthy political and judicial system with shady officials reigning over Romanian people, a situation too familiar for the European southern countries such as Greece or Italy. In the midst of this nefarious system, Cristian struggles to remain faithful to his oath and when he realizes that the man he is supposed to prosecute is in fact innocent, a descent into paranoia and madness begins for him. The consequences of his bold actions, defying his superiors orders, finally lead to his suspension. After that, Cristian delves fast to the poisonous world of paranoia with a tragic conclusion. This is a well-shot film with nice performances from the main protagonists, having a tight plot which reveals to the viewer the level of corruption in the Romanian political system. This is further supported by the great dialogue of the movie, making the characters and situations plausible, while achieving a high level of realism, a necessary ingredient for the genre's films. ''De ce eu?'' is a rather sad and gloomy story of a man attempting to stand up to the crooked system and finally losing the battle. The finale is pessimistic and mournful, leaving a bitter aftertaste to the viewer. So, if you are looking for a movie with happy ending, better skip it. In the film's universe there is no chance of redemption and the fate of the rebel is his demise. ''De ce eu?'' will appeal more to the fans of European movies of the genre, tired of Hollywood action-packed, plotless pictures. My more precise rating would be closer to 7.5./10.

I think Romanian cinema would benefit from depicting more movies about professional, normal people rather than dysfunctional ones.

In some sense, probably cinema is also a mirror of society. Since "corruption" is a subject nowadays in Romania, "Why me?" approaches this subject.

I think the movie describes pertinently the influence of the superiors on the prosecutor, their attitude of bullying into getting what they wanted-a mock up trial on other prosecutor so that their material interests would survive, the harassment he is subject to. The question is what to do-to acquiesce or to stand ground? A similar moral dilemma has the policeman in the movie "Police,adjective" and similar harassment suffers "Serpico" .

However the movie lacks on two points: 1) it does not show the descent or turmoil of the protagonist which usually accompany up to the final act. He is mostly calm or self-assured up to the end, in contrast with the tragedy of his final act.

2) it does not show what is the origin of his moral conscience. Was it influence of some people, did it come from his own study and reflections? Also, what principles does he support?

I've just watched this fine example of a gritty Noir at Berlinale. I'm a lousy movie critic, but just to give you an idea: think "Chinatown", minus the sun-drenched California landscape. The protagonist has to fight various factions, and gets to feel like being but a pawn in a game bigger than him. The setting is Romania, in 2002, it is gritty, dark, and pretty gray, for the most part. Quite atmospheric, and realistic - chillingly so, as a lot of the plot was informed by real events, as the director confirmed during a Q&A after the viewing. The cinematography and color palette is just right for the occasion, the camera is often close to the characters. The actors do a fine job in my book. I recommend this movie, and I'm curious to see what it'll stir up in Romania once it is released there.

My expectations about this movie were low, because i'm sick of law/cop/prosecutors Hollywood crap, but i was surprised.

"Why me" has strong acting and an interesting story, especially because is a real story. We are introduced in year 2002, 13 years after the revolution in Romania and the fall of communism. But for the judicial system of this country, is like there was no revolution. In the highest level of Prosecutor Office there is still that smell of socialism. The Securitate(secret police which served the Communist party, something like the German STASI)is still there, but now is renamed SRI, some ex-securitate officers now rule the country as politicians, and the old corrupted/repressive prosecutors are still in charge.

Add a young, honest and competent prosecutor in all that mess and you've a good movie, worth watching.

I'll give it a 7 out of 10 because i wanted to see more depth. Also, character progression seemed a Little bit hard to believe, like they were skipping some scenes.