Category Archives: movies

a boy with a guitar in the war-torn Europe (film: Merge si-asa – regia Valentin Urziceanu, 2022)

Posted on May 15, 2022 by admin

With ‘Merge și-asa’ (the aproximate translation would be ‘It Works, Kind Of’), the team led by director and screenwriter Valentin Urziceanu boldly steps into a cinematic genre in which Romanian cinema has very little tradition and experience – feature film … Continue reading →

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truth at all price? (film: 5 minute – Dan Chisu, 2019)

Posted on May 11, 2022 by admin

Three fundamental institutions of the Romanian state and of society are subjected to a critical examination in ‘5 minute‘ (the title of the English distribution is ‘5 Minutes Too Late‘), Dan Chisu‘s 2019 film: the press, the gendarmerie and the … Continue reading →

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film noir and dark politics (film: Un condé – Yves Boisset, 1970)

Posted on May 10, 2022 by admin

Yves Boisset is not one of the famous French directors, which amplifies for me the (pleasant) surprise of watching his 1970 film ‘Un condé‘ (‘The Cop‘). The director, who had been Jean-Pierre Melville‘s assistant, among others, demonstrates here that he … Continue reading →

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crime comedy with a French sauce (film: Cop au vin – Claude Chabrol, 1985)

Posted on May 9, 2022 by admin

‘Cop au vin‘ (an inspired translation of the original title ‘Poulet au vinaigre‘) is one of those films by Claude Chabrol which, when viewed, I have the impression that they were made with Alfred Hitchcock looking approvingly over the French … Continue reading →

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Hitchcock’s colorful black comedy (film: The Trouble with Harry – Alfred Hitchcock, 1955)

Posted on April 24, 2022 by admin

‘The Trouble with Harry‘ is an unusual film in Alfred Hitchcock‘s filmography. Writing this introductory phrase, I realize that about half of Hitchcock‘s films can be called ‘unusual’. Of course, there is a ‘canonical Hitchcock’ in which corpses appear, with … Continue reading →

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traps of life (film: Fish Tank – Andrea Arnold, 2009)

Posted on April 19, 2022 by admin

‘Fish Tank‘, written and directed in 2009 by Andrea Arnold, is one of the most interesting social films I’ve seen lately. Combining the techniques of fiction and documentary films, it owes its freshness and sincerity to the fact that it … Continue reading →

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troubled motherhoods (film: The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal, 2021)

Posted on April 18, 2022 by admin

Maggie Gyllenhaal, an actress that I really like, now joins the respectable gallery of actors who pass on the other side of the camera and become directors. I am even happier to see that her debut film, both as a … Continue reading →

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small is the future (film: Downsizing – Alexander Payne, 2017)

Posted on April 16, 2022 by admin

Whenever I have a hard time to categorize a film in a certain genre, the reasons can be very good or very bad. Sometimes it’s one of those original and inventive films that escapes the patterns imposed by film critics. … Continue reading →

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history lesson (film: Le souper – Edouard Molinaro, 1992)

Posted on April 15, 2022 by admin

Who makes the history? How, when and where are made the great decisions that decide the fate of countries, nations, individuals? These questions, which historians and philosophers have asked and debated fiercely for centuries, are elegantly answered in ‘Le souper‘, … Continue reading →

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an undeserved rehabilitation (film: The Exception – David Leveaux, 2016)

Posted on April 14, 2022 by admin

‘The Exception‘, the 2016 late debut and by now the only feature film ever made by theater director David Leveaux, is based on a novel written by Alan Judd, whose hero is Wilhelm II, the dethroned kaiser of Germany, in … Continue reading →

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