La fille la plus heureuse du monde

I saw this Romanian film at Berlinale and was amazed at how much it achieves with a simple plot and a very limited budget. The film follows Delia, a teenage girl who, after winning a brand new car in some kind of sweepstakes held by a fruit juice brand, has to film a fruit juice commercial in which she has to introduce herself as the winner - the happiest girl in the world, and drink a bottle of advertised juice. That's it as much as the plot is concerned basically, and though it sounds trivial, it is at times hilarious and at times very dramatic. The director based the film after his own experience when shooting a similar commercial with a somewhat difficult girl. He uses long static takes that seemed like a bit of a gimmick at first, but after seeing the excellent actors go at each other in the more dramatic scenes, I completely forgot about it and it made perfect sense to let them do it all in one take.

So long story short, it's a great simple film that really engaged me at the dramatic parts while still making me laugh out loud a lot. See it if you get a chance!

If this had been shot as a short film of about 20-30 minutes, it would have worked very well but as a full length feature film it fails because it becomes frankly boring.

The scripting is quite sharp and the acting is very proficient. Cinematography is tight and effective. The film makes some good points about relationships between parents and their grown children and about consumerism. There is some nice satire on the commercial film industry.

Unfortunately, despite some quite funny dialogue and a few dramatic moments, I found myself looking at my watch and saying to myself "yes, I get the point. In fact, I got the point about an hour ago". Despite the full length of the film, the characterisation was limited and I really didn't care about the characters.

A disappointment.

Sadly I completely disagree with the previous comment. This pathetic excuse for a movie was poorly shot and edited, with a weak - or rather -non-existent story line. Better suited to be a work of a film student in his or her first year, not a feature film representing Romanian cinematography worldwide. Could possibly make a decent short film... Or a TV film... if the story were expanded and more characterisation added. Zero portrayal of the Romanian society's struggle with consumerism, which theme it purports to tackle, or any broader social commentary that a viewer may relate to. The original idea was good maybe but in no way viable enough for a full-blown feature. Don't waste your time! The first time ever when I wanted to ask for my money back at the cinema...

The film starts as a girl and her parents are driving to Bucharest. The girl is going there because she sent in a number of labels from some juice bottles and won a car that she is now supposed to collect. Part of the contract is that she agrees to be an actor in a commercial the juice seller is making, so she's a little nervous.

Using a very small cast this film uses this girl and the car she won as the backing line for a couple extra tangents. It makes for a very interesting combination - small, simple, completely believable and totally adorable.

The lead (and title) character being a somewhat insecure girl in her late teens comes across as a typical teenager - strong willed, happy to do what she's being told (as long as it helps her to get where she wants) and a volatile barrel of emotions. She's the anchor that keeps the film in place and the actress playing her pulls it off very well. The added story arcs complete the film and give room for a nice pace.

All in all, very enjoyable.

8 out of 10 shots taken.

Nice scenery and interesting camerawork, also the clothing was made nicely. Actors were good enough, but not good enough to carry through the moss of boredom.

The story was too weak for a full feature film, in my opinion, and I found myself wishing the movie would end already at around 60 minutes mark, so I couldn't possibly recommend this for anymore as it is.

If it was made into a mediometraggio form, it could've worked. Now it was just tedious and boring.

And to think this film was nominated for editing?