Cu mâinile curate

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.

From a strictly professional standpoint, this is the best movie ever made by Sergiu Nicolaescu. It's done with a pretty good narrative feeling, a clever insight in shooting the action scenes, and even a certain sense of building the characters - who, although as sketchy and shallow as in most of the Nicolaescu movies, were able yet to seduce the young and naive audience of the early seventies.

The big problem remains the typical one for that epoch: political hypocrisy. The so-called "hero", a communist veteran who is appointed a police commissioner (Mihai Roman, played by Ilarion Ciobanu), is positively angelic: intelligent, wise, honest, resourceful, generous, kind and good-hearted. Of course, he MUST confront his old tormentor, commissioner Stefan Patulea (Alexandru Dobrescu), who beat the crap out of him years ago, when he was just a poor innocent subversive agent, nicely and heroically conspiring to deliver his motherland to the soviets - and now, of course, Patulea MUST be still an asshole, bent to get rid of the valiant communist (who, koochy-koo, doesn't have the least suspicion!) Fortunately, the one to save the day is the courageous, manly, gritty, trigger-quick, silver-armor knight Tudor Miclovan (Sergiu Nicolaescu), about whom the communist leader Nicolae (Emanoil Petrut) explicitly states: "He says he's apolitical, but in truth he's one of ours..." This kind of tricks were used in those years to coat the toxic pills of communist ideology in the sweet couch of thrills and adventure. Definitely, it's Nicolaescu main asset - to always be both with the devil, and with the candle (as an old Romanian saying goes...)

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.

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.

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.