Philanthropique

By saying this is the best Romanian movie I don't really say much about it, because there aren't any good Romanian movies, really (with few exceptions). But I can tell you that this is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and I have seen many. Not only it makes you laugh, but it makes you think. A little bit like American Beauty. The story is well put together and the acting quite impressive - gives you a strong real life impression. A school teacher needs money so he can be around the sister of one of his trouble-making students. His book (just released on the market) didn't have any buyers, so he need other funding sources. You'll see what and how. Overall, a movie not to miss.

Beautiful black humor film, which shows the system in Romania, even still today. The part of teacher Oividiu shows, how even now teachers have to fiddle to enrich their income.The young woman Diana is the personification of Romanian women who love their country and also find ways to add income, but still keep their pride, dignity and identity. They have style and grace. Diana and his wife know how to show this to the viewer.Wonderful acting. The youngsters could be from any place on this earth, they are all the same, react the same,have no identity, therefor it is great to see how Caranfil finds a great way to show the world of nothing to something. He proofs that there is character on both sides. Even the beggars get respect and in a humorous way there is a cooperation. During the film there is a symbiose between the poor and "nouveau rich" who respect and even complement each other.

...and an excellent commentary on the state of society not only in Romania but in the rest of the world. There are some references, small, almost hidden, to the World Bank and the EU, that help you to see the parallels between what's happening to the protagonist on a personal level and what's happening to Romania on a national level.

I've spent a lot of time in Romania over the last few years, and have wanted to tell people I know here in the UK about what it's really like over there - Filantropica gives me a chance to make what I say come to life. The portrayal of the rich, useless 'students', in particular, was so close to reality I just couldn't stop laughing.

....and the dogs at the beginning and the end are just, well, perfect!

In Romania they call it the 'transition' period. Whoever invented this term meant to describe the period between Communist Romania and a normal society, a period where people can recover dignity, learn speaking the truth and trust their human fellows. The issue is that in Romania, as in all other former Communist countries this period was marked by a great amount of dis-illusions, by many broken dreams and destinies as the recovery proved not to be easy neither on the economic not on human plans. The place of human relations was taken by tricks and robbery, the emptiness of the Communist slogans was replaced by the emptiness of the commercial TV, surviving as a human being is tough.

'Filantropica' presents a point of view which may be unknown or hard to catch for many non-Romanian viewers. The Romanian literature and theater has a great satiric tradition, and the founder of absurd comedy theater Eugene Ionesco was of Romanian origin. This is where the villain characters in 'Filantropica' like the one of the master combinator played by Gheorghe DInica come from, although the figure of the little professor of literature dreaming to overcome his miserable condition (through money? through love?) played by Mircea Diaconu is as universal as a Benigni or Woody Allen would have created it.

Some comments consider 'Filantropica' as the best film of the Romanian cinema. I believe that this is an exaggeration, there are certain flaws especially the extended and un-justified use of off-screen voice in the first part of the movie. 'Moartea Domnului Lazarescu' of Cristi Puiu, another movie inspired by the reality of the same period is a better film, with somehow a more optimistic message. Yet this is an important film about this complex period in the history of Romania.

I am used to Romanian movies being dark, verbally violent, poorly acted, poorly directed, wanting to shock, yet saying nothing. Most of them are like that, but not this one. This was actually a dark comedy with almost no violence. The threads of the story do end in despair, but not in tragedy, giving the viewer that "jigsaw puzzle completed" feeling.

The acting of the main characters was superb, even the extras did their job well; the script contains a too complex and interesting story to be told here, all I can say is that it's a great tale; the music gives a Romanian feel to the movie and nicely selected for this particular idea; the directing has to be good, since almost none of the actors slipped, none of the scenes made me say "Cut" :) and the movie carried me from the first scene to the last with no discrepancies.

This movie may have turned my pessimistic view of Romanian film-making around, along with "Asfalt Tango", which is a movie of the same caliber and quality (with the same great main actor ) and I am looking forward to good, watchable movies like these two, with great and original stories.