Sergiu Nicolaescu

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Sergiu Nicolaescu
Nicolaescu in May 1982
Born
Sergiu Florin Nicolaescu

(1930-04-13)13 April 1930
Târgu Jiu, Kingdom of Romania
Died3 January 2013(2013-01-03) (aged 82)
Bucharest, Romania
NationalityRomanian
Alma materPolitehnica University of Bucharest
Occupations
Years active1962–2013

Sergiu Florin Nicolaescu (Romanian:

Romanian film director
, actor and politician.

He was best known for his historical films, such as

Un comisar acuză (1973, A Police Inspector Calls). Joanna Pacuła starred in his film Ultima noapte de dragoste (The Last Night of Love) in 1980 before eventually emigrating to the United States, where she went on to a very successful career.[1]

Early life and education

Sergiu Nicolaescu's father was Nicola Pantilimon, an

mechanical engineer. After graduation he started to work as a camera operator
. He was hard-working, well-organized, curious, intelligent and keen of learning. During these years he acquired many of the skills that have proved so useful when making his later movies.

Film director, writer and actor

Nicolaescu was considered during his lifetime, as he is now, the most popular, loved and prolific Romanian movie director. His overwhelming film career spanning 55 years, leaves us today his legacy of some 60 movies, for the making of which he used to act at times, simultaneously, as film director, as an actor, and the writer/screenplayer. In his native Romania he is remembered as a superstar for his patriotism, the high praise he gained as a film director, and his charismatic and strong personality.

Nicolaescu's debut as a director was in 1962 with the

E.T. The Extraterrestrial (original version only), the young boy Elliott watches this movie on TV – Mihai Viteazul in the US version – the scene with the battle of Calugareni. His 1976 film The Doom was entered into the 10th Moscow International Film Festival.[6]

Mihai Viteazul (

Mihai Viteazul with Hollywood superstars playing the lead characters. The communist authorities of the time drastically ruled for an all Romanian cast. The obstacle, eventually, was circumvented by means of casting, in the lead role of Mihai Viteazul the actor Amza Pellea
, who achieved a masterful rendition of the hero. Sergiu Nicolaescu was able, throughout his career, to select the best actors available for the characters they had to portray.

Most of Nicolaescu's films are built around figures and events in

Romanian Revolution of 1989 ("All I've done was to present a different state leader than Nicolae Ceaușescu. He understood and stopped the movie [from premiere]").[7] Yet, when Mircea
was finally released to the public the film was very well appreciated.

Sergiu Nicolaescu at the premiere of Carol I
Sergiu Nicolaescu at the premiere of Last corrupt in Romania

Nicolaescu produced impeccable renderings of the historical battles and costumes.[

Mihai Viteazul, Nicolaescu successfully managed a 5,000-member crew, actors and extras and, despite the obvious technical limitations of the communication means in the 1970s (no mobile phones
were available at that time, for instance), he imposed a strict discipline during filming of every cannon fire and every attack scene, thus helping everything to fall in place under his unique order.

His movie Mihai Viteazul was considered the best of the Romanian historical movies and is one of the most appreciated world-wide of this kind (for example, considering imdb ratings) . The film was released in 1970 in Romania, and worldwide by Columbia Pictures as The Last Crusade. A TV sequence in Steven Spielberg's "E.T." (original, uncut version) show images from "Mihai Viteazul" (scenes with the Battle of Călugăreni).

While creating such historical movies he was supported by the Romanian Ministry of Defence with large numbers of extras and war equipment. He documented his historical movies meticulously, to this end seeking the advice of military consultants and distinguished historians of the Romanian Academy. Regardless these films have aesthetic qualities too, and are the expression of Sergiu Nicolaescu's vision as both a film director and a writer.

His 1985 film The Ring was entered into the 14th Moscow International Film Festival.[8] For this movie, Nicolaescu performed a very intensive boxing training with a former European boxing champion. The intensity of his training for this movie was similar to what the Romania's Olympic boxing team at that moment performed. At that time Nicolaescu was 50 years old and its boxing matches and the hits during this movie are real and against strong opponents.

His huge work capacity was widely admired by his colleagues and crew.[

Mihai Viteazul
).

After

World War II period (his Începutul adevărului, also known as Oglinda), or glorified the World War I heroine Ecaterina Teodoroiu
(Triunghiul morţii, also known as Triangle of Death).

Sergiu Nicolaescu and Prince Paul

An accomplished battle scenes director, Sergiu Nicolaescu, as legend has it, would have been able to film some 70–80 meters of useful shots in the same amount of time that the average director would need in order to produce 12–15 meters.[9]

Although his last films were not as popular as his earlier productions, he continued to direct new films, such as

Romanian Revolution of 1989, Supravietuitorul (2008), Carol I
(2009) and Poker (2010).

When asked to nominate three movies he made that he most liked, Nicolaescu chose

Osanda (also known as The Doom) and Atunci i-am condamnat pe toti la moarte (also known as Then I Sentenced Them All to Death
).

Politician

Nicolaescu started his political career during the 1989

Romanian Revolution. At the time the Revolution took place he was very well known and respected for his films, in Romania. He participated actively at the Romanian Revolution and his appearance and speech during the Revolution brought about coherence and clarity to the people who listened. In December 1989 he was received with a standing ovation (his name) from the crowd of hundreds of thousands of Romanians gathered in the heart of Bucharest after Nicolae Ceaușescu left power on 22 December 1989. He called for calm, and asked the crowd to listen to and support Ion Iliescu. Nicolaescu went on to play an important political role during the Revolution and was elected to the Romanian Senate in 1992 as a member of the Romanian Social Democratic Party. He left the party in April 2011,[10] and then rejoined it after only two days.[11]

In 2005 Nicolaescu declared in an interview that he was not happy with his decision of going into politics. He felt that the politics took too much from his precious time and because of that he was not able to do as many films as before the Revolution.

Personal life

Sports and personal life

Nicolaescu said that as a young boy, he practiced many sports like athletics, equestrianism, boxing, shooting, and rugby. According to the public information available, Nicolaescu was a very active person and he had a very disciplined lifestyle. Every day, even when he was 80 years old, he spent at least one hour doing physical activity (gymnastics, etc.).

Although he was never a very passionate

Steaua București was the dearest to him throughout time, even though he played rugby at Dinamo București.[12] He explained this by saying that he liked the former Steaua legends Gheorghe Hagi, László Bölöni and Dan Petrescu more than Dinamo's players. Nicolaescu declared in the same interview that he also liked Ripensia Timișoara and Universitatea Craiova
in their glory days, but not as much as Steaua.

Nicolaescu was married three times. He did not have children and this was his main regret.

Failing health and death

Nicolaescu had been diagnosed since 2000 with diverticulitis, a benign and chronic digestive condition that was acting up every couple of years. In January 2008 he underwent brain surgery twice due to an accident. At that time, he was 78 years old. The doctors did not give him any chance for success because at the time of his first brain operation he was completely paralyzed. He had to learn how to walk, speak and write again, and he successfully managed to do it after 3 months of intense physiotherapy and neurological exercise. Nevertheless, after this brain surgeries he said he changed dramatically: he started feeling his age and he started changing his behaviour (more impatient and irritable). In his last years the health problems made his life difficult. Yet he continued directing, acting and planning new films. He maintained intact his huge passion for filmmaking until the end of his life.

On 26 December 2012 he was admitted with

intestinal transit was not functional and the blood work was still unsatisfactory. The doctors opted for an exploratory laparoscopy, which led to the discovery of an acute perforated appendicitis complicated with peritonitis. After undergoing surgery, Nicolaescu developed respiratory complications, leading to acute respiratory failure within 48 hours. He entered into cardiac arrest on 3 January 2013, and could not be resuscitated by the hospital staff. He was pronounced dead at 8:20 AM GMT+2.[13] His body was cremated
on 5 January 2013, according to his wishes.

Feature films

Director

  1. The Deerslayer
  2. The Last of the Mohicans
  3. Adventures in Ontario a.k.a. Lacul din Ontario a.k.a. Das Fort am Biberfluß
  4. The Prairie

Actor

References

  1. ^ "Ultima noapte de dragoste (1980)". IMDb. 13 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  2. ^ Iana, Ciprian (3 January 2020). "Șapte ani de la moartea lui Sergiu Nicolaescu! Filmarea care era să se termine rău și alte dezvăluiri despre regizor". Libertatea (in Romanian).
  3. ^ Popescu, Adrian (14 April 2021). "Sergiu Nicolaescu ar fi împlinit azi 91 de ani. 10 lucruri pe care nu le știai despre cel mai popular regizor din România". Click! (in Romanian).
  4. ^ "5th Moscow International Film Festival (1967)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
  5. ^ "7th Moscow International Film Festival (1971)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
  6. ^ "10th Moscow International Film Festival (1977)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  7. ^ "Filme lung metraj – Mircea – 1989 – Studioul București". Sergiu Nicolaescu. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008.
  8. ^ "14th Moscow International Film Festival (1985)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  9. ^ "Sergiu Nicolaescu – Biography". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  10. ^ "Sergiu Nicolaescu şi-a dat demisia din PSD" ("Sergiu Nicolaescu Resigns from PSD") (in Romanian). Adevărul, 19 April 2011; accessed April 19, 2011
  11. ^ (in Romanian) "Sergiu Nicolaescu s-a întors în PSD: 'Bună ziua, mă iertați!'" ("Sergiu Nicolaescu Returns to PSD: 'Hello, Forgive Me!'") Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, Jurnalul Național, 20 April 2011; accessed January 3, 2013
  12. ^ (in Romanian) "Am fost rugbyst la Dinamo, dar ţineam cu Steaua" (I was a rugby player at Dinamo, but I liked Steaua"), Gazeta Sporturilor, 4 October 2011; accessed January 3, 2013
  13. ^ "De ce a murit Sergiu Nicolaescu. Vezi explicaţiile medicilor de la Spitalul Elias VIDEO". 3 January 2013.

External links

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