"Filantropica" was the first Romanian movie that I've seen, and, being very interested in learning about Romanian cinema, I, frankly, hope that the reviewer who says that it's the best Romanian film ever is wrong.
OK, "Filantropica" is, overall, an enjoyable movie. It is a bitter satire on one of the greatest (or most publicized) maladies of post-Communist Romania - organized begging. The central concept of "Filantropica" is quite clever, and the movie can be very funny, but in the end I could not empathize with it. Perhaps that's because so much of what "Filantropica" laughs at I've already seen, and got somewhat tired of, in Polish popular cinema of the 1990s - the ridiculous fat mafiosi hanging out with brainless bimbos taken in by their red sports cars (as in "Kiler" - a very enjoyable movie - among others), the neurotic high school teacher whose paycheck is a slap in the face and who can't stay on top of his rowdy students and escapes into a world of erotic fantasy (as in "The Day of the Freak"). These topics are somewhat spent in Polish cinema, and it was a bit surprising to me that a movie on this topic and made in this hyperbolic comedy convention was still seen as a big bang in Romania in 2002.
My main problem with "Filantropica" is that the characters are drawn with too crude a line for my taste. This makes the movie increasingly irritating towards the end. The cynical boss of the begging business actually becomes somewhat painful to watch after a while. So if "Filantropica" is meant as a piece of social commentary on contemporary Romania, it is inadequate for reason of that very crudeness; if it's to be (as the director claimed at a meeting I attended) a universal tale about the power and abuse of charity, then again it is too shallow to do any justice to the topic. It succeeds as a comedy with an Eastern-European flavor, and is worth watching for that reason.
I am still looking for a really good Romanian movie to watch - either a more subtle comedy, or (even better) a drama that is psychologically careful and believable and that will tell me about life in Romania, or about about a problem of universal relevance. Any suggestions?
OK, "Filantropica" is, overall, an enjoyable movie. It is a bitter satire on one of the greatest (or most publicized) maladies of post-Communist Romania - organized begging. The central concept of "Filantropica" is quite clever, and the movie can be very funny, but in the end I could not empathize with it. Perhaps that's because so much of what "Filantropica" laughs at I've already seen, and got somewhat tired of, in Polish popular cinema of the 1990s - the ridiculous fat mafiosi hanging out with brainless bimbos taken in by their red sports cars (as in "Kiler" - a very enjoyable movie - among others), the neurotic high school teacher whose paycheck is a slap in the face and who can't stay on top of his rowdy students and escapes into a world of erotic fantasy (as in "The Day of the Freak"). These topics are somewhat spent in Polish cinema, and it was a bit surprising to me that a movie on this topic and made in this hyperbolic comedy convention was still seen as a big bang in Romania in 2002.
My main problem with "Filantropica" is that the characters are drawn with too crude a line for my taste. This makes the movie increasingly irritating towards the end. The cynical boss of the begging business actually becomes somewhat painful to watch after a while. So if "Filantropica" is meant as a piece of social commentary on contemporary Romania, it is inadequate for reason of that very crudeness; if it's to be (as the director claimed at a meeting I attended) a universal tale about the power and abuse of charity, then again it is too shallow to do any justice to the topic. It succeeds as a comedy with an Eastern-European flavor, and is worth watching for that reason.
I am still looking for a really good Romanian movie to watch - either a more subtle comedy, or (even better) a drama that is psychologically careful and believable and that will tell me about life in Romania, or about about a problem of universal relevance. Any suggestions?