The last years proved that Romanian cinematography is on the right track. Films like Filantropica, Occident, Moartea domnului Lazarescu are the signs that Romanian filmmakers are, finally, trying to compete both Eropean and American productions, escaping that localism that, in my opinion, spoils many Romanian productions. From this point of view, Exam has been an overwhelming experience. I had no great expectations and maybe this added some good points for it. This and, of course, some very good usage of film-making techniques: no artificial dialogues, no theater-like interpretation, some very good shooting and - something that Romanian filmmakers forget about - a soundtrack that made sense. The story too was pretty surprising for me, as, from the beginning, I was expecting another film about the "day-to-day Romanian tragedy". Surprisingly, the insights on the late Romanian Communist system and the brutality of Securitate - the Romanian Secret Police - in the '80's are quite accurate and the idea of generation gap (the young that do not understand what the communist dictatorial regime was all about)is implied without any judgmental attitude. All in all, after watching Exam, my first idea was to recommend it to everyone I know... I'm starting here!
