The phenomenon of nostalgia for communism seems to refuse to die. 'Sunt o baba comunista' (English title - 'I'm an Old Communist Hoag'), the 2013 film by Stere Gulea, joins several other creations of film schools from former communist countries, which attempt to analyze the economic and psychological difficulties experienced by generations that had their youth during the communist period and that were not spared by the often brutal transitions to completely different political and economic systems. The most famous creation of the genre is, I think, 'Good Bye Lenin' by German director Wolfgang Becker. Dan Lungu's novel and Gulea's film inspired by the novel propose a similar female character, but who ends up experiencing nostalgia not as an illusion, but through assumption and even through action.
Emilia and Tucu, the heroes of the film, live with difficulty in a provincial town during the transition. The factory that provided jobs for the family and those around them has closed and the machinery is rusting in the workshops. Alice, their daughter, is away in Canada and her visit with her American fiancé is testing the couple's meager resources. When a film about the Ceausescu era is being made in town, Emilia is called to participate as one of the veterans of the era. It is an opportunity to remember episodes from her youth, with the bad parts and the good ones.
Emilia is not a fanatic. Her memory of the past is, of course, selective, but that happens to many of us when we recall the periods of our youth. The change of regime came too late for her to adapt or change her lifestyle, the simple, perhaps naive, values about work or family relationships also come into conflict with the changing mores of the era. Luminita Gheorghiu fills her character with humanity, this being another one of her great roles. Emilia has a counterpoint in the character of Mrs. Stroescu, a woman with different experiences, of suffering, during the communist period. The role is played by Valeria Seciu and film viewers have the opportunity to watch these two great actresses, who have since disappeared, together. The director and screenwriters do not try to judge or impose a point of view. I do not think that many will become nostalgic for communism after watching this film, but there are chances that they will better understand the roots of the nostalgia phenomenon, at least for the older generations.
