A changing society disected: "Niki and Flo" [2003 Romania]

At seventy, Liciane Pintilie hadn't lost any of his sardonic wit and biting satire when he made "Niki Ardelean, colonel în rezerva" [Eng. Title: Niki and Flo], a probing examination of conflict within a society that's changing suddenly and too fast for the liking of some traditionalists brought up in the communist ways.

Niki (Victor Rebengiuc), a retired army colonel, and Florian (Razvan Vasilescu) are neighbours, friends, who have also recently become in-laws - Niki's daughter Angela (Dorina Chiriac) is married to Florian's son Eugen (Serban Pavlu). The film begins with the funeral of Niki's son following a rather freak accident. Niki's sense of loss is palpable, but doesn't particularly mind being overshadowed by the more flamboyant Florian's event-organising skills.

But when Angela and Eugene announce that they'd got their papers to emigrate to the US, Niki is devastated and sees his family falling apart. He dissuades the couple from emigrating citing Angela's pregnancy, but Florian forcefully intervenes on their behalf and urges Niki to embrace modernity and change.

The couple waste little time in selling their belongings to fund their trip and when they bid their final goodbyes to leave for the airport, Niki could barely contain himself and collapses on the pavement. Their departure, and Niki's wife Poucha's (Coca Bloos) fading health adds to his anxieties. A video presented by Florian to Niki, of Angela and Eugen's wedding subtly brings to fore the latent tensions between the friends' families, and takes on a new meaning when Niki hears about Angela and Eugen only through a postcard sent exclusively to Florian. It leads to an unexpectedly shocking denouement...

Pintilie handles the film in his unique style by making piercing observations using a clever combination of realistic and absurd situations reminiscent of the Czech New Wave. Ably supported by his main cast and well produced, the film is a reminder of the director's abilities as an auteur who still has something new to say about his country. Needless to say, this almost forgotten little gem of a film is Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.fr DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Dorina Chiriac, Serban Pavlu, and Razvan Vasilescu
In a long and memorably frank scene, Angela and Eugen, while discussing their finances concerning their travel, change subject halfway by talking about and feeling each other's genitals. Eugen asks Angela to either shave it regularly or leave a bit of pubic hair so that it doesn't cause him discomfort while having sex. Florian is briefly nude in the bath when he has an accident. There is also brief nudity when Angela undresses in the wedding video shot by her father in law.



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Rona Hartner & Romain Duris in "Gadjo Dilo" [1997 Romania, France]

Films by French director Tony Gatlif are known for its exploration of themes relating to gypsy culture, often also delving into their musical heritage. Understandable, considering he's of Gypsy descent himself, but his films additionally give us a fresh insight into Romani peoples and their way of life, which will certainly differ from common perceptions.

His musical and romantic drama, "Gadjo Dilo" [Eng. Title: The Crazy Stranger] was actually well received and it also won a César for its music. When I watched it for the first time however, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that apart from the music which is indeed mesmerising, the film is also very well written and directed, with engaging performances even by some of the cast members who're not professional actors.

Storyline:
Young Stéphane travels around Romania in search of a singer he only knows by the name of Nora Luca, along with a cassette of one her songs that his dad in France had recorded years before his death. His wanderings take him to a small town where he meets Izidor, an eccentric but charming Roma at the time mourning the arrest of his teenage son. He takes Stéphane to his Roma village because he had nowhere to stay, but the following morning is frowned upon by village folk because of Stéphane's's travel-weary attire and vagabond-look. But Izidor insists on keeping the "Gadjo" at his home, and promises them that he'll teach him their ways and language. The funny thing is, neither can understand each other at first, and Stéphane assumes Izidor had promised to take him to meet Nora Luca one day, the singer he's after. He stays put in the village and learns their language with some effort, and the people also begin to accept him gradually, including Sabina, a young woman who lived with her husband in Belgium before leaving him - she hates French speaking people, and had refused to help translate his words when he first arrived. But in time, she'll grow fond of Stéphane. He will also understand the Roma way of life, sometimes through tragic events that happen around him...

The film is a wild and sensual journey into an exotic culture, and Tony Gatlif offers us a slice of Romani life with a slightly different emphasis from Emir Kasturica's "Dom sa Vesanje" (Time of the Gypsies). At times hilarious - what with the language barrier and culture clash settings, it is also moving and I was particularly impressed with the actor playing Izidor (Izidor Serban). The lead actors also perform very well - Romain Duris is charming as the adventurous young Stéphane, and Sabina is turned into a lively and sensual Roma woman thanks to the beautiful Romanian actress Rona Hartner. Recommended Viewing..!



About the DVD:
I'd normally not recommend a DVD with hard-coded subtitles, least of all if it also happens to be in French. But having bought two versions of this film, it is this "2-Disc Prestige Edition" that I recommend on this occasion - the single disc edition with optional English and French subtitles is simply not worth its current price. At 113 minutes, the Prestige edition is also fifteen minutes longer than the standard edition.

But more importantly it is the 2nd DVD in the 2-Disc edition that makes this altogether special, as it includes a unique 82 minute concert arranged and directed by Tony Gatlif featuring Gypsy musical traditions and influences from different countries, and prominently featured amongst them is Flamenco. Called "Vertiges du Flamenco à la Transe", if you've seen and enjoyed any of Carlos Saura's meticulously choreographed Flamenco theme-based films (Bodas de Sangre, Flamenco), you will enjoy this even better because of its sheer spontaneity and raw energy - these men and women are passion incarnate with sparks flying all over the place, and this is no exaggeration. The music is fabulously rich and intoxicating to the extent that I wished the concert was at least twice as long.

Screenshot from the magical 2nd disc featuring the concert:

Compilation: Rona Hartner and Romain Duris



Scene Guide:

• Young French traveller Stéphane becomes the butt of kid's pranks in the village, and when he tries to help Sabina in the woods, he gets bitten first, and as if that wasn't insulting enough, also mooned at. :)
• Sabina and a friend bathing inside a hut. The kids pull a prank once again by dragging Stéphane in. Feisty Sabina is played by a beautiful and flower-scented Rona Hartner. I couldn't determine the name of the actress playing her friend - those who can identify her please let us know.
• Sabina and Stéphane - no nudity in this scene, but very interesting nevertheless if you can follow what they're saying to each other (I've left the subtitles in). It's clear they've started getting along rather well.
• Things take their course in this beautiful and sensual scene, when Sabina draws Stéphane to a spot by the river - apparently the exact place where she was given birth to. Stéphane is played by a handsome and then up-and-coming Romain Duris.

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Kristin Scott Thomas in “Un Été Inoubliable” [1994 Romania, France]

The sojourn into eastern European cinema continues with a film from renowned Romanian director Lucian Pintilie, the Franco-Romanian production, "Un Été Inoubliable" [Romanian Title: O Vara de Neuitat, English Title: An Unforgettable Summer].

Multifaceted Pintilie started making films in communist Romania, but moved to France in order to pursue his career until the 1989 Romanian Revolution. But even while in France, he often interpreted Romanian literature and its culture in his work. Noted for his stark yet lyrical depictions while examining themes relating to his region, its culture, politics, and conflicts, Pintilie, considered among the world's leading film makers, had his career interrupted several times, mostly due to censorship from communist authorities. Having seen a handful of his films, I have begun to thoroughly enjoy discovering his filmography. Rest assured, we will be discussing more of his films here too.

About the film:
For those like me who are not well acquainted with eastern Europe in general, there are several informative nuggets in this film that will give a pretty good picture of the region's recent history, and it also makes connections to tumultuous happenings in neighbouring Yugoslavia during the time of the film's production. Pintilie himself admits to have been inspired by events next door to explore the screenplay from a balkanisation perspective - the symptoms and causes. He also establishes through subtle means his appreciation of communism as an inherently good idea badly executed by people. We even have brilliant satire of hypocrisy in high places, and widespread xenophobia getting in the way of realising a Greater Romania that they're trying to create.

Storyline:
Petre Dumitriu, a respected Army captain, and his charming wife and mother of three Marie-Thérèse attend a ball organised in honour of the prince, who also happens to be the Army's Chief of Staff. Marie-Thérèse has aristocratic roots too - she's a niece of the royal family, and her father belonged to the Magyar (Hungarian) aristocracy, the fact her maternal relatives openly resent. After noticing the prince openly making advances on his wife (which Marie-Thérèse politely spurns), Petre is furious but helpless in standing up to a superior. He asks to be transferred to a different location, and the prince, out of spite assigns him to a garrison in a restive and godforsaken border outpost. While disappointed initially at the Spartan living conditions, Petre, Marie-Thérèse, their beautiful children, and their nanny decide to make the best out of a bad situation. The optimist in Marie-Thérèse almost succeeds against odds to establish themselves in the new environment by befriending local Bulgarians and keeping everyone's spirits up. But when some soldiers are killed in an ambush by militants, the inept army headquarters must find a scapegoat, and the locals tending to Marie-Thérèse's salad garden are targeted for extra-judicial execution, one that Petre objects to knowing pretty well he could loose his job, and he does. And there is someone always at hand to replace Petre, but despite this Marie-Thérèse tries to save her gardeners' lives...

This is not a light film by any means - as engrossing as it was, it was also uneasy to watch, and in a way I was a bit relieved when it ended. The screenplay is very well structured, the art direction is magnificent, and the cinematography shines in places - notably the frantic opening scene which give us a horseback saddle-seated view. Well performed by all the main actors, British-born Kristin Scott Thomas sparkles as the stoic heroine Marie-Thérèse von Debretzy, a noble woman who tries in vain to stop bloodshed around her. Needless to say, this film is Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.fr DVD Link




Compilation: Beatha Fülop and Kristin Scott Thomas
Made from two scenes - the first is of Erji, a Hungarian (and communist) prostitute who moons at the prince and gathered crowd, and is promptly ordered to be 'removed'. The funny part however is, for all their holier-than-though attitude, everyone seems to remember her by name, without even looking at the owner's face! Feisty Erji is played by Beatha Fülop. The second is a famous nude scene of Marie-Thérèse bathing with her children in very little privacy, and soldiers moving about, some stopping by to stare. Petre himself finds it hard keeping his hands off his wife, but it appears not everyone is pleased to see them either. Marie-Thérèse is played by the BAFTA-winning, beautiful, and intelligent British-born actress Kristin Scott Thomas. Now that's, a rose..! ;)



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