Review of Tales from the Golden Age (2009) by Rob L — 05 Jul 2010

A remarkable film that re-enacts 5 tales from Ceausescu's Romania, a superb companion piece to other recent Romanian movies such as The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. This may be the best of the lot.

All the "tales" are good but the centrepiece involving a pig, some gas and an attempt to avoid the rations brokers is the most memorable. Certainly there are no lily-livered notices about no animals being harmed in the making of this movie here, although there is no evidence that the porker in question actually did come to an ignominious end.

The film also avoids gloomy cliches of slushy streets and grey buildings. Romania's warm summers are evident and despite the sheer barminess of the regime, people remain streetwise.