Intrigue

In the night of November 26-27, 1940, the Death Teams executed 40 political prisoners in the Viraga prison. The next day, other two Teams arrested and shot the former minister Virgil Madgearu and the world famous historian Nicolae Iorga.

The Iron Guard, also known as Legion of Archangel Michael, was a Romanian nationalist and patriotic movement of extreme right; as such, after it rose to power, it supported Nazi Germany and started a fierce campaign of retaliation against its political enemies. As such, in the night of November 26-27, 1940, the Death Teams executed forty political prisoners in the Jilava prison (in the movie, named "Viraga"), and next day, other two Teams arrested and shot the former minister Virgil Madgearu and the world famous historian Nicolae Iorga (in the movie: Costin Märgeanu and Nicolae Jugu). To squash down the political outcry, the Police Prefect Stefan Zävoianu (Visan Nävodeanu) conveniently assigns the cases to a commissioner from the "Morals Division" (prostitution, thieves), Tudor Moldovan, hoping that he will fail to get to the bottom of the case. However, Moldovan has communist sympathies, so he quickly comes under the influence of the Bolshevik Pîrvu, who had escaped during the Viraga massacre, only to be later apprehended again by the police. Pîrvu being an old friend and work mate of Moldovan's father, he feeds to the commissioner all the well-known soviet propaganda, during the interrogatories. Thus gained on the left side, Moldovan turns against the Iron Guards, in a short time gathering enough evidence to close the case. Hearing about this, the Iron Guard Senator Naumescu (Nae Ionescu) tries to bribe Moldovan - but the commissioner only accepts the money (one briefcase containing half a million lei, worth his salary for ten years) to use it for financing the communist party. He then delivers the file to the "Universul" newspaper, but the Legionnaire commissioner Paraipan, his arch enemy, retrieves it before going into print. Learning this, Naumescu orders Moldovan's dispatching. After a long and noisy series of shootouts and street action, Moldovan gradually shoots eight out of the new members of Paraipan's team, sparing only Tänäsescu, who had been assigned as his assistant during the investigation. Loyal to the cause, Tänäsescu informs Naumescu about Moldovan's whereabouts - so the Senator lays a trap for the commissioner, using Tänäsescu as bait. At the height of an unequal confrontation, in the heart of the Plumbuita slum, Moldovan is ridden with bullets by a few dozens of Legionnaires.—Mihnea Columbeanu