I am always eager to give Romanian cinema a chance. It almost always falls short somehow. It is the case of this film as well. Having lived more than half my life under the communist régime, I think I am entitled to judging the period in question. On the one hand, the physical depiction of the period is over all accurate to the most minute details: the glass fish decoration, the plastic table cloth, the cold, the darkness, the dull clothes, the lack of basic foods, the cigarettes which could buy favours, the pirated music, the onmipresence of the Securitate, the general sensation of insecurity- they're all there. On the other hand, errors and discrepancies abund. They could have been easily avoided with the help of people of my age, who could have come forward with advice on the too striking inadequacies. The numerous Securitate officers display inaccurate hair cuts- all of them- culminating with the militia man who buys/ steals Florescu's dollars: there used to be a typical hair cut, military style, not that longish hair. Factual errors are also numerous: in the beginning the film is clearly situated in 1988, whereas on the radio one can hear a famous excerpt from Ceausescu's speech at the 14th party congress, from November '89. Florescu in his taxi is reading a Scanteia newspaper about the end of the 13th party congress. That one happened in 1984. Having a fake passport fabricated right in the heart of Bucharest? Having Romanian citizens visit the American embassy for a meeting with the ambassador himself? Only in American movies. But the most over the top sequence is the one where all the neighbours get involved happily into helping with the construction of the balloon. This could have never happened in a time when everybody was afraid of everybody else- which is otherwise well rendered throughout the film. People were too self absorbed, too frightened and too coward to let themselves be involved in such an escape plan. Again, this is for the American movies. The ARO used for the trip to the Danube seems to have been produced later, in the '90s. In the '80s, that road along the Danube would have been chock full of potholes, let alone the impeccable marking. Half the actors have decent performances, the other half are subpar. And the children: how come the children in Romanian movies are so bad at acting? Again, yet another failed attempt.
Review of Hawaii
