cix_one

I caught this movie at a local film festival. The topic was super intriguing to me personally since I happen to have lived through the times and places referenced in the movie. That being said, I fear that for people without such a framing context the documentary may fall a bit flat.

The editing is the first thing struck me as being fairly amateurish. Quite a few scenes should have been either left on the editing room floor, or at least cut short(er) - Most likely these scenes made it in because there was nothing more compelling to add up to a regular length film...

The character featured in the documentary (he's a real person, I call him "character" because, well, he *is* an unusual character) opens up on camera and gives us a glimpse of his life many decades ago. Except he doesn't seem to have moved away from that time, he is still re-living his glory days. And this documentary provides a good vehicle for him to reminisce and for us (the viewers) to peek into cultural scene in that oppressed era in Romanian history.

The movie was looong. And felt looong. Characters either speak in elaborate metaphors or stare in the void to convey their inscrutable complexity and depth. Drama ensues again and again from people not checking their phones. Really? My days of trying to swallow this... stuff... are over.

In recent decades, Romanian cinematography has made great strides and has produced amazing films. Spoiler alert: this not one of them.

One thing going for the movie is that it manages to create a good atmosphere of suspense and omen. If only the atmosphere had a compelling story to wrap around - but alas, it doesn't. The story is pretty random and unremarkable.