Romania Best Films

Scarred Hearts (Romania) – How to Live Life Lying Down

Scarred Hearts Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

“Life is a serious game for which we’ve even invented nickel plating. To live we must believe in their importance. But let us remember that it is all just a game”

You can tell Scarred Hearts was adapted from a novel. Philosophical musings are scattered throughout the film just like the stream-of-consciousness narrative I presume carries Max Blecher’s novel (correct me if my assumption is wrong!). Amazingly, it works! If you’re a big reader and want to convert to the big screen for a few hours without missing out on some philosophy, this one is for you!

Why Watch Scarred Hearts?

To understand the importance of humour in life (and in sickness, much like Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Feel the political zeitgeist in Romania just before the Second World War
For some great quotes (e.g. “each moment, each pain, each thought, each event I consider important is but an atom in the vast ocean of world events”)
So many beautiful colours (just like a Wes Anderson movie)

The Breakdown

Scarred Hearts starts with the sound of a church choir singing. All we see is a sketched portrait of a man and then a load of old pictures of people lying down. The old pictures are of patients with Pott’s disease, a sort of tuberculosis of the spine. All of them must lie down whilst they are being cured.

But let’s talk about the film. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful colour palettes. There’s the pale blue and cream coloured hallways that match the nurses dress.

There’s the warm pinks and pale reds of the x-ray room.

And, there’s the pale, washed out blues and whites that make up the main hospital ward.

All these colour grades are carefully worked just like you might have noticed if you’ve seen a Wes Anderson film. Beautiful!

I also loved the many quotes that are either written across the screen like in the old silent films or read out by the characters. They question eternal life, religion, and the meaning of life. But while doing so they are also aware of their own fate. Here’s a couple of the quotes which I noted down:

“Life is a serious game for which we’ve even invented nickel plating. To live we must believe in their importance. But let us remember that it is all just a game”
“Fortunate is he who keeps the hour of his death ever present and lives every day as if it was his last”

Conclusion

There isn’t really any driving narrative plot in Scarred Hearts. However, this adaptation (of a Max Blecher novel) works incredibly well. It carries the stream-of-consciousness musings of the author through the character’s and a number of title cards which outline the film. Well worth a watch for anyone who loves literature and philosophical ramblings.

The Death of Mister Lazarescu – A Dying Man in Real-Time

The Death of Mister Lazarescu Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Meet Mister Lazarescu. He’s an old man living in an Communist-era apartment block in Bucharest with some cats. Problem is, he’s an alcoholic, and his last few drinks are sending him over the edge of life. Join him in his last few hours as he navigates the bureaucratic Romanian health system. It’s his last nightmare and one to put you off drinking for life.

From: Romania, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Watch on YouTube, Buy on Amazon, Watch on Vudu
Next: I, Daniel Blake, Beauty and the Dogs, Cosy Dens

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World

Do Not Expect Too Much for the End of the World

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World film difficulty Ranking: 4

Radu Jude is no stranger to controversy or satirizing contemporary society. His previous feature, the Golden Bear winning Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, took aim at sexism, nationalism, and consumerism with COVID-19 and sex as a backdrop. Before that, he highlighted his country’s hidden involvement in the holocaust in I Do Not Care if we Go Down in History as Barbarians. Both of these films packed a strong punch of humor and cynicism, but Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is his most potent critique of the world today and a movie that will define the 2020s for later generations.

From: Romania, Europe
Watch: IMDb, Just Watch
Next: Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, No Bears, Sorry to Bother You

The Breakdown

Don’t expect Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World to be an easy watch. Unless you’re familiar with Radu Jude’s recent films, you might be confused why this film keeps cutting to an old communist-era Romanian film about a female taxi driver or why we spend the majority of the central narrative literally stuck in traffic. Don’t expect a resolution from the side-narratives either. All of the threads might seem random but they all contribute to the bleak and cynical tapestry of the modern world that Radu Jude creates.

You might be thinking; “why would I want to watch a cynical tapestry of the modern world? The world is bleak enough right now.” To which we say; “fear not, you will have a guide in the madness.” Ilinca Manolache’s Angela is like Virgil in Dante’s Inferno. She’ll show us the hellish signs of late-stage capitalism – wealth inequality, corporate indifference, virtue signalling – and fiercely confront them with her dark humor. She’s integral to Jude’s critique of modern life as her humor makes it digestible and more like a bad dream than a shameful reality.

You might also be thinking; “why does Jude keep cutting to an old Community-era Romanian film?” The film in question is Angela merge mai departe, shot during Nicolae Ceaușescu’s authoritarian rule. It follows a female taxi driver as she ferries a range of male passengers around the city. The film highlights the danger of being a woman – she’s caught eyeing a wrench to use as a potential defense against one passenger – and is on the receiving end of leering eyes of men on the street, which Jude intentionally shows in slow motion. But her experiences are not significantly different to that which modern Angela faces. By including this communist-era film within Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, Jude forces us to compare the two eras. Ultimately, and depressingly, life under the dictatorship appears no worse than today. You might even interpret the 80s as better. For one, it’s shot in color vs. the monochrome of modernity so it looks warmer, and secondly 80s Angela is free from corporate exploitation.

Conclusion

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World is an era defining film. It’s bleak tapestry of the modern world marks a new low-point in Romanian (and modern capitalist) society. Just like Dante’s Inferno, we’re guided with dark humor through the hell of modernity and left to ponder how we got here.