Cu mâinile curate

This movie is the best combination between a police and a political movie, with two good heroes, one a political activist and the other a policeman by education. Both of them want to stop the crime in the city, even that their methods are at the start completely different. As they came to know each other they unite and together form the most powerful team against the criminal gangs. It is a classic of Sergiu Nicolaescu.

Oh my God, baby, Sergiu is just doing some marvelous **** again in this movie, just like in all others. His dialogues are sharp and to the point, his mind is troubled and obsessed, and his bullets are prompt and to the head. He is a master.

'Cu mainile curate' (With Clean Hands)is more a political pamphlet than anything else. Although any political/ historical movie had to be checked by a special division of the Communist Party, Nicolaescu managed to elude their vigilence on one hand and exploit their ignorance, on the other, to make a film which apparently presents the communists in a positive way. In reality there is a lot of subtle political irony, definitely noticed by the public, hence the great success of the film. The story of an apolitical commissar using old methods against the gangsters, very different from the communist view is very interesting especially because the communist view (although ideologically very dear to the Party) was very naive and utopical and of course the public understood the message very well. This commissar has a partner who was put there by the Communist Party, who was a former rugby player. This tells a lot about the irony in the film. The movie is very well made, very careful to details with a great atmosphere of Bucharest in the aftermath of WWII and in the turmoil of the communists ascension to power.

The meaning of Cu Mainile Curate is pretty obvious. As in many communist films, we have a noble, incorruptible hero (Mr. Roman), who, as a cop, tries to beat the evildoers. In this case: ruthless mobsters. They are tough competition. No wonder these cops sometimes use the same methods (terrorizing, shooting people) in order to get them. 'I want them alive… as much as possible.'

It is obviously a politically motivated gangster flick. Of course there's a bend cop with a 'wrong history'. He just has to go. And of course tough cop Miclovan (played by director Sergiu Nicolaescu himself), who seems to enjoy beating up villains, teams up with our protagonist, as his violent but necessary counterpart.

A lot of surprises in this film. In the first place: it looks AMAZING for a crime film, with its setting in prewar Bucarest. Beautiful cars, beautiful old buildings, beautiful suits. Unexpectedly great music (Richard Oschanitzky, who composed the score for 25 Rumanian films). Great scenes. The one with the empty factory and the table in the center. The heist with the tank. The chase scene in the outskirts. Secondly: the original story telling. There are actually a couple of stories intertwined, loosely build around this one noble cop, like a Rumanian mini The Wire.

And I never expected this much violence. This is a ruthless crime flick. People getting shot is as common as it can get. In this way it sometimes reminds me of poliziotto films. It gives the film a sinister atmosphere. Shootouts are cool but execution kind of stuff is way too much, at least for me… I rate this 8/10.

Look at the two actors and compare them in pictures and movie scenes: different generations of actors, totally different cultures at the time, but Ilarion shares the same coolness factor with Harrison.

Romania really had some amazing actors. And a huge thanks to them for keeping us free, on the inside during the dark times.