Operatiunea 'Monstrul'

A couple of communist businessmen go fishing while their wives think they're on a business trip. They take along two of their friends and side-kicks and a somewhat unstable children book writer fella who's providing them with a means of transportation.

Once there, they set up a camp and make plans for catching the biggest fish around those waters, legendarily called `The Monster'. While the action drags on, the movie is great in depicting the mentality and attitudes of socially important people back in communist times.

The leading actor, Toma Caragiu, delivers exceptionally as the flamboyant leader of the group, self-righteous and passing judgement at every step, with great self-irony. A great performance by Octavian Cotescu, who depicts another influential socialist figure, bent onto bragging either about places he has visited abroad or the fabulous things he had acquired there. Marin Moraru is their inadvertedly funny right-hand man in the office and their delivery boy and messenger during this whole trip.

The movie is great and definitely delivers, yet hindered by its technical flaws.

This is one of my favorite movies! I am not tired yet of re-watching it. It definitely deserves to be promoted worldwide. The delight is continuous due to its subtle situation humor and the formidable performances from three of the greatest Romanian actors ever: Toma Caragiu, Octavian Cotescu and Marin Moraru. And all those meaningful unfinished phrases, and the pomp of the "specialist" fishermen, and their unspoken rivalry transferred from work in that leisure situation, and so on, and so on. Great script, great actors, low budget, a really great movie, which MUST be revived.

The movie is an absurd comedy with probably low budget and little "action" if any. Comunist potentates, probably typical characters for the Eastern Europe in the seventies, flee their wives and jobs for a couple of days and go fishing on a quest to hunt down some local myth: a monster of a fish. What makes the movie worth while are the performances by representatives of a great generation of Romanian actors.

Much better than... Alan Alda, for instance, Marin Moraru had a great theater career in Romania but also some film appearances that should place him among the classics of comedy. He should be up there with Chaplin and Buster Keaton. "Operatiunea Monstrul", sadly flawed by poor light, sound, and probably cheap pellicle, is nevertheless a showcase for Marin Moraru, Octavian Cotescu and Toma Caragiu, all "monsters" of Romanian comedy. I only wish someone would translate it in English and circulate it a little. At least the acting classes would greatly benefit from the exposure.

I'd rate it 8 out of 10, if only for patriotism.

So from my point of view, as a romanian, is that the Operation "The Monster" is a parody of the Romanian communist period. At the beginning are establishing a set of rules, stupid rules like in the communist period. After they are breaking those one by one and everyone is fearing not be seen by another one, like in the communism when you were afraid to say anything even to a friend or a neighbor because you aren't sure that is not working with the security! So, it's a genial parody wich was released IN the communist period when everything against the system was out for the public! 😂😂😂

"Operatiunea Monstrul" is a very well structured film, with actors who can be named "monsters of cinematography", great dialogues. It's an example of how a low budget film may become a big success through its actors, scenography and talent of the director.

I think that this film has no problem if being compared with other productions from Hollywood because it looks and sounds very real, and is very closed to the heart of the target public: the romanian people.

What is very very interesting is that although the film is a parody of the communist system from that days in Romania, the censure did not react as I expect. Another words, bravo !