It was said about Horatiu Malaele that he is a multiple artistic talent. What I find extraordinary about him is the fact that in every artistic field in which he manifests himself he reaches the highest level. He is one of the most remarkable theater and film actors of his generation. As a graphic artist, he is a high-class portraitist-cartoonist. With ‘Luca‘ – presented in Israel during the 2022 edition of the Romanian Film Festival – he proves that he is one of the most interesting and talented Romanian directors, with an original style and a feeling and an artistic depth of great filmmaker. ‘Luca‘ is the second of his three films I’ve seen, the other being ‘Silent Wedding‘. A film that is difficult to label and put on a shelf. A hard-to-forget movie that follows you long after the viewing is over. A film by Horatiu Malaele.
The hero of the film is a Romanian whom destiny has taken to America and back to his country. Luca runs away from communism, but finds neither peace nor professional fulfillment as an actor in the New World. On the contrary, while practicing one of the typical occupations of immigrants, cab driver in New York, he gets in trouble by witnessing a crime and is forced to enter the witness ‘protection’ program and return to Romania to hide, running away from the revenge of the New Jersey mafia. It’s just that what he encounters in Romania is kind of a mafia structure of a different nature and a society different on the surface, but with similar corruption and sometimes even with the same people as the one he had run away from years before. The story written by Adrian Lustig can be perceived as a sarcastic political comedy, as an allegory or as a thriller, as a surreal nightmare or as a social and political critique related to reality. Or all at once.
Horatiu Malaele‘s directorial style is as far as possible from the minimalism of most directors of the New Romanian Wave. It comes closer, in my opinion, to that of Silviu Purcarete, another great man of theater, the author of the unique film which is ‘Somewhere in Palilula‘. The choice of István Téglás to play the lead role proves to be extremely inspiring. Reality overwhelms the man whose dreams are shattered while nightmare invades his life. The refuge in theater can be seen as an invasion of magic in everyday life or as a psychological refuge, maybe imaginary, maybe therapy, maybe escapism. The theater stage framing works perfectly, because what is theater or art in general other than magic or refuge or therapy or escapism? Luca, the actor who dreamed of playing roles on stage and whom life has turned into a tragic character, will accompany the spectators of this special film for a long time.