I went last weekend to see the film California Dreamin', a Romanian film made by Cristian Nemescu who tragically died in a car crash after filming was complete at the age of 26. The film stars Armand Assante (who was present at the screening of the film) as the American captain of a NATO troop who are traveling through Romania by train on their way to bring communications equipment to the NATO lines in Serbia. Razvan Vasilescu plays the corrupt stationmaster of one of the railway stations along the NATO train's journey and he decides to hold up the train on a bureaucractic technicality. While the troop is trapped in the small Romanian town, they get an opportunity to interact with the locals, including the stationmaster's teenage daughter, and learn a little bit about life in Romania after the fall of communism. The film paints a rich picture of the town and its people (who are under the stationmaster's thumb) and also provides and interesting commentary on life in Romania as well as the consequences of U.S. influence and interference in such a place. There are many sequences in the film that are quite funny but there is plenty of emotion as well. You are also left feeling that it is such a shame Nemescu's voice was silenced so soon.
The film is playing right now at the IFC Center in New York - definitely check it out if you can. Here is the trailer to whet your appetite.
California Dreamin (Nesfarsit) - Trailer
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment