Calatoria lui Gruber

After all the fuss they made over it, I expected for something at least watchable, but no luck. The story is very wrong written, following a character without personality, who simply got a bad case of allergy - and so what? This makes it lame from the start. Then, it becomes worse. He looks for a doctor who seems to be arrested or shot by the SS - and here it should have started to build up tension, suspense, drama, compassion for the victim, hatred against the criminals. Well, it only gathers boredom. And it also falsifies the historical truth - it was the Nazi army who persecuted and killed the Jews in Romania, not the Romanian army who did its best to spare them. The film makers should make a better research before starting to shoot a movie.

it is a wake up. delicate, precise, careful created. work of admirable team, it is far to be perfect and the absence of enthusiasm from many Romanians could not be a surprise. but, it is a good film. for message. for acting. for manner of Radu Gabrea to recreate a world and impose a not comfortable subject. and that fact does The Journey of Gruber not exactly a show but seed of reflection about a society, bureaucracy, political decisions, price of life. one of beautiful roles of Florin Piersic Jr., a special performance by Marcel Iures, few memorable scenes and the bitter feeling after its end. a film for remember . and for understand. that is all. so, more important than a script far to be the best, are the actors work and the subject.

In director Radu Gabrea's Gruber's Journey the Romanian cinema gets it's first film seriously approaching the painful theme of the episodes of the Holocaust that took place in Romania between 1940 when the dictator Ion Antonescu took power (in collaboration for the first four and a half months of his regime with the extreme nationalistic Iron Guard movement) until August 1944 when the king deposed Antonescu and made Romania join the Allied for the last period of the war. One of the bloodiest episodes of this period was the pogrom and massacre of more than 13,000 Jews in the Eastern Romania town of Iasi (Yashi, Jassy) in the first days of the war. For many years the Romanian history books ignored or minimized the events, but the truth became more and more evident in the last ten years, despite efforts of Holocaust deniers who still try to hide the responsibility of the Romanian authorities of those times.

A veteran of Romania cinema, Radu Gabrea is not at his first film dealing with sensitive events in the Romanian history. In The Beheaded Rooster (Cocosul decapitat) he described the same period but looked at the events from the perspective of the German population in Romania, part of which collaborated with the Nazis. I did not like that movie but appreciated the courage in dealing with the subject. In Gruber's Journey Gabrea relies on very solid premises, using the memories of the Italian writer Curzio Malaparte who as a war correspondent visited the city soon after the events and mentioned them in his novel Kapput.

The story in the film describes Malaparte's arrival in the city in the first days after Romania entered the war as an ally of Nazi Germany, in June 1941. The war has started, but what bothers Malaparte is a terrible allergy that can be cured by a specialist residing in Iasi. That doctor is not easy to find however, chaos reigns, people cannot be found where they are supposed to be, the Balkan mentality of corruption and disorder seems to be only amplified by the war, and above all the doctor happens to be a Jew. Something terrible seems to have happened to the Jews in this city, but nobody speaks open about this or when they do double-speak hides the facts, the army and the police throw responsibility one on the other. The military commander of the region will be suspended, but not for the loss of the lives of the Jews (he actually is congratulated by dictator Antonescu for the efficient handling of the events) but for allowing its soldiers to rampage through the domain of a count and destroy his wine cellar. The film which starts in a comical register where the innocent Italian writer meets the eternal Romania of playwright Caragiale's heroes, turns into a dramatic confrontation with the horrors of crimes of war.

The team of actors does an excellent job, starting with Florin Piersic Jr. as Malaparte despite the fact that he is or looks just too young for the role, Malaparte was 42 by the time of the events described in the film. Marcel Iures has a short but memorable presence on screen as Gruber, while Claudiu Bleont and Razvan Vasilescu play the chiefs of the army and of the local prosecution office in the greatest and best tradition of Caragiale.

While the international breakthrough of the Romanian cinema was due mainly to films describing the period of 'transition' after the fall of the Communism, the re-evaluation of the past was never out of the interest of Romanian film makers. The exception was the Holocaust period, and this is the first good and courageous film on this subject. Hopefully other will follow.

To say the least, a necessary picture. Furthermore, a very subtle point of view, and an interesting, original approach to such an equally difficult and terrifying subject. Well-paced, intelligent, and immensely telling on the subject of the delicate balance between the forces at play in the historical moment in point. A wealth of information delivered subtly gives the film body and weight. Great performances from most artists with a - by now - expected yet amazing power of transformation from Claudiu Bleont, this very versatile actor. Good debut for Mr. Piersic Jr in a star role, and a nice guest appearance from Mr. Iures. Needless to say I am sad that the film's reception so far in its native country looks cooler than should be. I hope it will win in the international festivals circuit the respect and exposure it deserves.

it has many and various meanings.first, it is part of the effort of Radu Gabrea to give a honest image about the recent Romanian history. using the discoveries of a stranger about the realities from a Eastern country, its habits and its vulnerabilities. in same measure, it is a film about Shoah. different by classic perspectives. it represents a precise diagnosis about people under times, remembering, in many scenes, the work of Eugene Ionesco, Urmuz or Caragiale. two names are basic points for the artistic virtues - Florin Piersic Jr. and Marcel Iureș.reflection of past, it is support for reflection.