Amintiri din epoca de aur (2009)

Directors:

Hanno Höfer
Razvan Marculescu

Writer:

Cristian Mungiu (written by)

Release Date:

18 September 2009 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | History

Plot:

An unconventional personal history of the late Communist period in Romania. |

Plot Keywords:

Romania | Communism

Cast

Diana Cavallioti	...	Crina (segment "The Legend of the Air Sellers")
Radu Iacoban	...	Bughi (segment "The Legend of the Air Sellers")
Vlad Ivanov	...	Grigore (segment "The Legend of the Chicken Driver")
Tania Popa	...	Camelia (segment "The Legend of the Chicken Driver")
Liliana Mocanu	...	Marusia (segment "The Legend of the Chicken Driver")
Alexandru Potocean	...	The Secretary (segment "The Legend of the Official Visit")
Teodor Corban	...	The Mayor (segment "The Legend of the Official Visit")
Emanuel Parvu	...	The Party Inspector (segment "The Legend of the Official Visit")
Calin Chirila	...	The Party Activist (segment "The Legend of the Party Activist")
Romeo Tudor	...	The Shepherd (segment "The Legend of the Party Activist")
Avram Birau	...	The Photographer (segment "The Legend of the Party Photographer")
Paul Dunca	...	The Photographer's Assistant (segment "The Legend of the Party Photographer")
Viorel Comanici	...	The Party Secretary (segment "The Legend of the Party Photographer")
Ion Sapdaru	...	Policeman Alexa (segment "The Legend of the Greedy Policeman")
Virginia Mirea	...	Policeman's Wife (segment "The Legend of the Greedy Policeman")

Also Known As:

Contes de l'âge d'or (France)
Tales from the Golden Age (International: English title)

Runtime:

155 min

Country:

Romania | France

Language:

Romanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:12A | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Mobra Films

Movie Connections:

Features Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Cold War Jokes Sponsored by Corporations

When the movie started, first the names of corporate sponsors rolled down, then the jokes.

This movie, as I had expected, took a caricatural shot at Romania during socialist period but the timing could not have been worse, as capitalism collapsed around the world spectacularly.

The movie told the stories simply but efficiently and displayed daily lives of Romanians before their transformation to a free market economy.

What I liked about the movie was to see inside the houses and rural villages of Romania during socialism. To see their naivete , when they expect an inspection by a government official, when they drink and have fun, even when they steal stuff. In capitalism by contrast you need to have grand schemes, people with thousand dollar suits and a little help from the government in order to steal. But the payoff is not a few dollars like in socialism but trillions of them!

To paraphrase the slogan in the movie: Legend has it that the ex-socialist countries of Latvia and Letonia are in the brink of bankruptcy just like Iceland. Romania is in pretty bad shape too, like other Eastern European countries. So basically it takes 50 years of socialism to build a country from the ashes of WWII and only 20 years of capitalism to bankrupt it. Pretty good deal, now they will have to learn to slave for capitalism for the rest of their lives! I watched the movie during Istanbul Film Days, the movie was a bit long and people got bored towards the end. Acting was great, directing was solid.

And as final note may I suggest the director Cristian Mingiu to cut back on listening to Radio Free Europe and see films by Michael Moore and learn a bit what is happening at the den of capitalism. Legend has it that the corporations left and right are getting a little socialist help from their government!