The Reenactment
The Reenactment Reconstituirea | |
---|---|
Directed by | Lucian Pintilie |
Written by | Horia Pătrașcu Lucian Pintilie |
Produced by | Lucian Pintilie |
Starring | George Constantin George Mihăiță Vladimir Găitan |
Cinematography | Sergiu Huzum |
Edited by | Eugenia Naghi |
Distributed by | Filmstudio București |
Release date | 1968 |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | Romania |
Language | Romanian |
The Reenactment (
The recipient of much critical acclaim and considered in retrospect one of the most notable contributions to
Production and plot
Both Horia Pătraşcu's novel and the screenplay (co-authored by Pătraşcu and Pintilie) are closely based on real-life events. The incident was witnessed by Pătraşcu during the early 1960s, and took place in his native town of
Like in the film, the militiamen's decision seems to have outweighed the punishment proscribed for such offences: they made the youths film the same scene over and over, and, in the process, exposed them to public humiliation.[1][2] Pătrașcu, who credits German writer Erich Maria Remarque and his All Quiet on the Western Front with having inspired his narrative, states: "At the actual, filmed reenactment I for one had a terrible shock. They were children, they were just children. The police made them do what they had previously done. But that was a beach, a pool, there were girlies wearing bathing suits, some of them were connected with those girlies, and the [militiamen] were making them do what they had done when they were drunk, which was absurd, which made me shiver."[1] In both story and film, Vuică dies after his friend, pressured by the authorities into making the reenactment look more authentic, hits him over the head with a stone.[1][3]
There was a significant gap between the story's publishing and the start of production. Filmmaker
The film was shot on location in the Southern Carpathian resort of Sinaia, but preserves some elements from the intended setting, including the restaurant's name of Pescăruș ("Seagull"), which had been borrowed from its Caransebeș model.[1]
Themes
In addition to its factual content, The Reenactment stands as a metaphor for the people's inability to control their own destinies under the grip of a
Pintilie also stated his objection to the very notion of an inquiry, noting that such a procedure "is the most effective way of veiling reality", and indicated that the film was in part an allusion to the tradition of torture and repeated interrogation, enforced by the Securitate secret police in the previous decade.[6] George Constantin's character was thus supposed to be a Securitate officer, but, Pintilie claims, the institution was scandalized by the possibility of an exploration into its past, and appealed to Nicolae Ceaușescu personally to prevent this from happening; as a consequence, Pintilie turned the protagonist into a prosecutor.[6] Although the reference to Miliția practices was the result of such pressures, it became one of the most valued attributes of the film. The portrayal of militiamen as brutal and irresponsible contrasted with their sympathetic portrayal in films approved of by the Ceauşescu regime, and especially with the post-1970 series Brigada Diverse.[3] In a 2007 article for Gândul, journalist Cristian Tudor Popescu writes that, by exposing the torment which could be caused even by routine Militia interventions, The Reenactment "had discarded the urban legend of 'militiamen so stupid that they make one laugh with tears when seeing how stupid they are'."[7]
"Harshness" was identified by Mircea Săucan as a main characteristic of the film.[4] Stressing that he does not find this trait to be a defect, he states that, had he directed the film, he would have insisted more on the "cold" aspect of the inquiry, to stand in contrast with the melodrama-like aspect of some scenes.[4] Commenting on such traits, Cristian Tudor Popescu wrote: "37 years ago, a prosecutor and two militiamen were organizing, on the terrace of an isolated pub, the reenactment of a brawl between two guys. Under the eye of Lucian Pintilie, the tremendous actor George Constantin, together with George Mihăiţă, Vladimir Găitan and Ernest Maftei, were reconstructing [...], starting from a beer mug crashing into a head, the whole monstrous skeleton of the kitschy evil on which Romanian communist authorities were relying."[7]
In 1965, Pintilie had directed the film
Impact and legacy
Censorship
The Reenactment's release coincided with the peak of liberalization policies in Romania, and with a moment when Ceauşescu appeared to be pursuing an independent path within the Eastern Bloc. However, the film caused consternation among communist officials. Pătraşcu recalls that the film was only shown sporadically as the censorship apparatus was deciding its fate: it premiered at the Luceafărul Cinema in Bucharest, where "the projectionist was driven out of his mind" because it ran as the main feature for two months on end.[1] Mihăiţă recalls: "the film's presentation was stripped of all ceremony. Better put, the film was introduced through 'the back door' at Luceafărul... It stood there, without any comments, for about a month, before being withdrawn as discreetly as it had appeared."[5] The Reenactment was also shown in Timișoara, but, Pătrașcu indicates, no program or promotional material given approval for publishing; it was only shown with discretion in several other main cities, "until people had heard about it", then withdrawn.[1] The writer also remembers being "glad" upon learning that the film managed to raise public awareness, and that it incited viewers to engage in rioting against Miliția forces.[1]
Early in 1969, the authorities took the decision to withdraw the film from cinemas, a ban which lasted until the regime came to an end two decades later.[1][2][7][8][9][10] According to George Mihăiță: "It's worth knowing that, upon viewing, some comrade [that is, communist official]—it no longer matters what his name was!—said 'this film ought to be stored in a room and someone should swallow the key'...!"[5] It was as a result of the scandal that communist officials began investigating Romanian cinema in general, and intervened to stop filming on Pragul albastru, which was based on a screenplay by Ion Dezideriu Sîrbu, a former political prisoner who was undergoing rehabilitation.[11] Pintilie's Securitate file, made available for the public in the 2000s (decade), contains lengthy and minute reports on the film, and documents the negative reaction of official critics (quoted saying that the film is "mediocre" or "mean"), but also the appreciation from the part of more rebellious intellectuals.[8] For instance, it describes how, moments after having seen the film in Bucharest, the avant-garde author and former communist Geo Bogza scribbled in the snow set on the director's car the words: "Long live Pintilie! The humble Geo Bogza."[8]
In May 1970, the
Another clash between Pintilie and the communist system occurred in 1972, when he satirized officials by staging a subversive version of Gogol's The Government Inspector, which was suspended soon after its premiere.[14] In an interview with The New York Times, he records a meeting he had with the censors: "I was told, 'If you want to continue working here, you have to change your conception of the world.' I answered, 'But I've just started formulating it. [...] All I can do is develop it.' "[14]
During the following period, Pintilie only worked sporadically in Romania and was pressured to seek employment abroad
Recovery
Pintilie made his comeback in Romania only after the
After being again made available for public viewing, The Reenactment again was the subject of critical interest. It was recovered together with similarly censored films by
At the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m (in Romanian) "Horia Pătraşcu: 'În Reconstituirea am dat tot ce am putut ca prozator' ", in Informația Cluj, Nr. 37/1999
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Romanian Cinema on the Edge. The Films, at the University of Pittsburgh site; retrieved May 28, 2008
- ^ a b Ciprian Cirniala, "Filme cu și despre milițieni R.S.R.", in Magazin Istoric, September 2008
- ^ ISBN 978-973-7893-65-9
- ^ a b c d e (in Romanian) Silvia Kerim, "Galeria vedetelor" (interview with George Mihăiță), in Formula As, Nr. 332, October 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g (in Romanian) Silvana Silvestri, "Noile hărți ale infernului" (interview with Lucian Pintilie) Archived 2008-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, in Revista 22, Nr. 753, August 2004
- ^ Dilema Veche, Nr. 174, June 2007 (originally published in Gândul, June 5, 2007)
- ^ a b c d e (in Romanian) Emil Berdeli, "De ce te urmăreşte Securitatea, Mitică? De frică, monşer" Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, in Gardianul, May 12, 2008
- ^ a b c Marina Kaceanov, "On the New Romanian Cinema", in P.O.V. Filmtidsskrift, Nr. 25, March 2008, Section 3
- ^ a b c (in Romanian) Doinel Tronaru, " 'De ce trag clopotele, Mitică?' – De frînghie, monşer!" Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, at Editura LiterNet (originally published in România liberă, March 2, 2002); retrieved May 28, 2008
- ^ (in Romanian) Daniel Cristea-Enache, "Reinserția în literatura română" (Part XXIV), at Editura LiterNet; retrieved May 28, 2008
- ^ (in Romanian) Lucian Pintilie, "Niki Ardelean, colonel în rezervă (Niki și Flo) un soi de synopsis", in Revista 22, Nr. 690, May–June 2003
- ^ a b (in Romanian) Lucian Pintilie, "A privi răul în faţă" Archived 2008-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, in Revista 22, Nr. 753, August 2004
- ^ a b Annette Insdorf, "A Romanian Director Tells a Tale of Ethnic Madness", in The New York Times, November 4, 1994
- România Liberă, February 2002); retrieved May 28, 2008
- ^ "Films. Reenactment, at the Palm Springs International Film Festival site; retrieved May 28, 2008
- ^ C'est la fête de l'Europe de l'Est! at the Romanian Film Festival site; retrieved May 28, 2008
- ^ Toronto Romanian Film Festival, at the University of Toronto Central Box Office; retrieved May 28, 2008
External links
- The Reenactment at IMDb
- The Reenactment at Rotten Tomatoes