To say this from the get-go: I'm a romanian but I've never enjoyed romanian movies. I always found them to be self-indulged and cheaply written and acted. The good ones for me were Dacii and Columna lui Traian, maybe even Haiducii lui Sapte Cai. Man, Amza Pelea had mad charisma and Sergiu Nicolaescu was an excellent director that understood the realism part of a movie but also was very artistic and made well made movies. Having said that I didn't go with big enthusiasm to see this movie but rather cautious not knowing what I'll be getting from it.
I was pleasantly surprised though. "Si atunci ce e libertatea?" is a very well made movie, a rather slow burn but with great cinematography, good acting, good directing and sometimes eery music that fits almost perfectly into the scene. Now don't get me wrong this movie won't be winning any oscars for best foreign language film (not that that would even matter lately) but it is a great movie with an interesting story and a great message that is delivered almost perfectly along it's 2 hours and 13 minutes of runtime. The story centers around the year 1951 and the relocation of a group of Romanians from Toplet to Baragan fields. The movie is a slow burn, there won't be any big explosions, no big revelations and unexpected shocks or plot-twists. It's a simple movie that does what it does good and never tries to outreach it's grasp. And honestly that was a breath of fresh air for me, to see a movie that was self-contained, original, well acted and well written that didn't have any political messages or ideologies to fill my throat with.
In conclusion, if you're a romanian, go watch this movie and support creativity and good romanian movies. If you're not a romanian, go watch this movie and see if it's the kind for you. A slow burn with great ideas, explored simply and well executed by the end. 9/10.
