Le matos et la thune

Ovidiu lives at home with his parents and dreams of opening his own shop. Then he is offered a rather large sum of cash to deliver some parcels of 'medicine' to some address in Bucharest. This offer comes from local crime boss and all round unsavoury type – Ivanov Marcel.

Ovidiu decides to take along his best mate, Vali, as he can drive and he has the van and what is more Ovidiu's mum wants him to do the shopping on the way home. On the trip they will discover a lot about each other and why taking large amounts of money for a seemingly easy gig is not always the brightest idea.

Now this is a comedy and there are some very well realised moments in this, but some do not seem to translate very well. It is a small cast and budget but does not really lack for it. The lad's views on the desirability of the Dacia motor car are in themselves are enough to keep any petrol head amused. I also learnt that the Romanians have a word for 'knackered' which was nice to know. The acting is all good too and it has a down to earth feel that is in keeping with the disposition of the people involved; all in all an enjoyable watch.

Rarely did I feel such a deep and vivid satisfaction, while watching a movie... I could simply not take my eyes off the computer display, permanently letting go spontaneous remarks like: "Wow!", "O.M.F.G., how GOOD it can be!", "Dammit, but it's GREAT!", "Now, this is what I call a movie!", "Cristi, you sonovagun, you really DID IT!"

The script is simple but not simplistic, classic and revolutionary at the same time. Following the seemingly linear main plot, the authors subtly insert elements from a parallel story, never disclosed (the mysterious thugs who chase the protagonists - in a very "Duel"-like formula) and explosively blown in the corpses-on-the-field scene. All the elements of this structure charge the movie with so much tension, that the ending becomes barely bearable. In truth, it's one of the best built movie endings I saw in Romanian cinema. Just the thought of what might happen tomorrow gives you the creeps!

The direction is masterful and deconstructivist. Cristi's long and mobile shots, apparently messy, in truth perfectly figured, contribute to the inexorable build-up. The actors are snappy, precise - and so natural, that the stream of profanities they utter becomes literally charming. All in all, it's a certain recipe for quality: what one can do with a simple script and a few bucks, if one really has TALENT.

One should also add that this movie opened the so-called "minimalist trend" in Romanian cinema - the trademark of the New Generation. As some opinions were stating, one should mark it in our culture's history by the formula B.C.P. / A.C.P.: "Before Cristi Puiu" / "After..." - or "Annum..."! ;)

In post-communist Romania young dropout-student Ovidiu's family is struggling to make ends meet by operating a small grocery store right out of their derelict tower block apartment. All he can hope for in this rather dismal small town is to buy someday a small kiosk for himself. The opportunity to considerably further his plan seems to arise when Ivanov, the local shady businessman, offers to pay a fabulous sum to get a parcel delivered to Bucharest, the Romanian Capital.

This attempt at a Romanian road movie goes to great lengths to depict the narrow world of its characters. Every detail of their departure, conversations etc. is painstakingly rendered, causing the film to lose momentum at times. However, the details of how they talk and interact with each other quite realistically reflect their attitude in life, their hopes or lack thereof, and their feelings towards each other. This has been a rare quality in Romanian films so far, where usually you have an improbable story and/or unnaturally behaving characters (few exceptions notwithstanding). I won't bother with the poor production (bad sync, faded colours, overpowering ambient noise) because that's simply not the point with this film. Among the undeniable qualities of Cristi Puiu's debut are the naturalistic depiction of everyday life and the hopelessness of it, the natural acting and language of the characters (which also makes any attempt at a faithful translation quite futile). Despite the lagging story the film accurately captures the everyday struggle and trouble of life in post-communist Eastern Europe. Definitely worth watching if you can adjust to the slow pace.

You must see this simple very good movie. It's like acting is from real life

Stuff and Dough (2001) is a low-budged road movie by one of the talented directors of so-called Romanian New Wave, and it is arguably the initiator of this wave. The freshness of the film comes both from the subject and from the style!

We are in contemporary Romania. A post-communist country where every citizen struggle to break trough with a business enterprise. Our main protagonist, mummy's boy Ovidiu accepts to deliver a package of medicines, which obviously is something different considering the money he received for delivery from his mafia-like 'boss'. On his way to Bucharest he is accompanied with a close friend Vali and his girlfriend Bety, and they are shocked when they are attacked by a group of men.

Besides the story, film successfully delivers living conditions of ordinary people in contemporary Romania, that is why, in some way, it resembles neo-realist approach. We are especially informed about the struggle of youth, their interests, targets and moral behaviors, how they accommodate to new liberal system, however post-communist type of liberalism.

On the other hand, style is more new wave; a fresh, unorthodox type of filmmaking. Hand-held camera, natural acting, coarse editing, full of jump cuts and elliptical cuts.