Restul e tacere

For 20 years I have been waiting for a Romanian movie that I could actually enjoy. Don't get me wrong, I am not about to comment from an advised point of view the post-revolutionary Romanian cinematography - I am sure it is of great value, but I have simple tastes - I like emotions and I like beauty wherever I can find it. Seeing this movie I was moved to tears by its simple yet very clever story, nice decent humor and lovely settings. And hearing again my lovely language - I cannot tell you what it felt like - no swearing, no ugly words, just pure poetry. THANK YOU. This last part of my message is addressed to the administrator of the IMDb site. I must say I am not particularly pleased with this rule that states that our comments must be at least 10 rows long. Comments should be as lengthy as they must be, I see no reason why I should invent things just to get published.

Love films. Always have, always will. Would like to love Romanian films too, because it just feels good to hear a film unfold in my very own language. But things are as they are and I can't make them any different. All I can try is change my "optic" of things, which I can't seem to do in this particular case. Some films sway you to, others don't. It's just as simple as that.

In Caranfil's style, "Restul e tacere" is a jolly new film about film, but also about jolly old Romania and the people inhabiting it. It looks good and is decently acted, as a young protagonist tries to make a film about the Romanian battle of independence, against the Turks, which leads him on a road of enlightenment about the people of that world. A lot of character types pop up in this morally vile Romania which bear a lot of criticism to the contemporary one as well.

What disappoints me is that subtlety is often sacrificed for clarity, with an ending so full of itself that it just undermines many of the things said and done along the way. It is undeniable that the film has moments of poignant humor and all in all manages to sketch a very true form of the ill society which rules the land, now and then, but it isn't "round" enough to be placed on the shelf it wishes to place itself.

I may be overly harsh about Caranfil's latest effort, but I do not wish to ignore the underlying themes and motifs he ties in with the story, the allegorical parallels of other stages of the world and some of the great single elements which are part of it. However it isn't enough - as far as I'm concerned - to be really smart about the things you say, if the way you say them doesn't fit.

just saw the movie. In a cinema theater. Sunday morning, only four people in the audience, myself included.

I'm blown away.

here, normally, I would have added only another sentence to this post - but the IMDb rules state a post must have a minimum 10 lines.

so I might write that this is not just a movie. It's a tribute to all movie makers, of all times. It's a tribute to all the people passionate enough with an idea to be able to follow it until the very end. A tribute to those few people that do not sell their soul, or their ideals. In a way, one might read it as Caranfil's manifesto.

but ignore all the above. Ignore all the comments. Just go see the movie. It speaks for itself better than anybody ever could.

the rest is silence.

È pericoloso sporgersi, Asphalt Tango, Filantropica... The ingredient are the same: lots of humor on a tragic background. 'Restul e tacere' has the same Caranfil style, and more... Without a doubt, his best work. It's a story about the making of the first Romanian movie in 1911, the age when Bucharest was still 'little Paris', and the national identity feelings were probably at the highest level of all times. Although as a Romanian i felt really close to this movie, i must say there is no over - nationalist propaganda, just a simple decent story with a little bit of history as background, telling us how talent met with business to do the "War of independence" film. The humor is great, the story is a must know, the acting is extraordinary, especially the two main characters (Leon Negrea played by Ovidiu Niculescu and Grigore Ursache played by Marius Florea Vizante), the music is right on cue, the 'little Paris' atmosphere is greatly recreated and the rest is silence...

it could be another successful film of a special Romanian director. or the return of Romanian cinema to the historical genre. or occasion to see great actors in impeccable performances. or, just, a different film. but its virtue is the status of beautiful homage. to film. to sacrifice of few idealist people. to a slice of Romania modernity. to figures who looking for change everything. it is a basket with stories. love, humor, dramas. and the beginning of Romanian cinema. the same flavor of films and making of and clashes between different visions. for me, "Restul e tăcere" has two fundamental virtues : the original portrait of the king Carol I, the splendid presence of Ioana Bulcă. and , sure, the impeccable atmosphere.