Between Pain and Amen

Very tough movie, great acting and great prison scenes. The realiy, though, was even tougher. The people were crying at the cinema... The love scenes, however, were not that good and they looked cheap (same music, same scenery).

It is difficult to define this film. Basically, it is a testimony and one of films who you need to see to understand old truths defining the present. Fenomenul Pitesti deserves its movie. Not only as a sort of requisitorium against Communism but as remind of sacrifices, pain, cruelty and a sort of unique experiment of desumanitation of the XX century. Admirable acting , powerful message. A love story as axis and great ambition of Toma Enache to show the truth in its naked essence.

The story is real, the facts were real, the situation was a massive Romanian pogrom which was executed in the manner one hears coming from USSR/Russia, China or North Korea. The story was framed nicely, with a first dramatic line that holds well, in the development and character of the main character, and its relations with his alter ego living with his wife, the brother, the priest and other prison inmates. It comes with some other undertones - stories in background, most of them detracting from the seriousness of the presented situation, but I will not give away some of it.

Major cons of the movie are the acting of the main character which is very believable in the negative instances, but hardly believable in the upside scenes, some other poor acting, poor framing especially on the wide frames and the drone shots.

All in all it should received a better movie, a better cast, a clearer storyline, and it could have done more right to the situation.

For the ones who are biased about the communist regime. Inhuman treatment, a continuos depravation of humanity, cruelty, suffering, a perfect picture of what communist can do.

Maybe my rating is due to the fact that I watched this movie at the inauguration, where the actors were present in Timisoara. It made me feel very impressed about what this movie had to show to the world, how bad the communism was in Romania. I wish I could understand more of the dialog, but the sound was bad in Romanian, so an additional subtitle might help the viewer to understand it.