Reviews

I am surprised by the negative reviews. I can only imagine is due to a heroic view of war and Dunkirk evacuation in particular. The sound creates an atmosphere that matches the occasion throughout the movie. There may not be a classic view of war in this movie, but with every scene, the movie captures the details of the evacuation from all aspects of the soldiers involved: Navy, Army, RAF, French Army, civilians . The fact that the enemy is never visible, bar a few planes and silhouettes of soldiers is very powerful! This movie is a masterpiece! Only if you look with a jingoistic view at this movie you could find faults. Dunkirk was a retreat, not a victory! I guess that wasn't understood by many that keep an Imperial Britain view of the world! The movie is a great homage to the soldiers and civilians of the time and a very down to ground view of the events.

Half the time I didn't know what was going on. A lot of product placements. A lot of continuity errors- enough to confuse the story. Not enough characters development. Do yourself a favour! Read a book for 2 hrs!

I found this movie quite entertaining, didn't mind certain inaccuracies, good acting and story line.

But all in vain as the movie, the story is ruined by the silly twist at the end! Shame really! An opportunity missed.

This movie contains a fragment of life exactly as it was in Romania in 1987. The story is told without protecting the viewer from the realities presented. Life then was like that - some were protected by 'playing' the system - like the family of Otilia's boyfriend. This is how the majority of Romanians lived their lives and avoided the punishment of the regime. It was considered 'stupid' to do otherwise. Until you do get caught in the middle like the girls did. You didn't have to complain or protest against the regime - the regime would come and find you if you weren't careful. This is what a lot of people in the West don't understand about life behind the iron curtain. This film shows this bluntly. Indeed this is the best Romanian movie I have ever seen so far. And is one of the best I have ever seen!

I watched the film recently and it poorly resembles the book is based on. I blame this on poor screenplay and direction. Some parts were forcibly introduced (the gay rape scene) for no apparent reason. I actually read the book after watching the movie and some 20 years or so after reading it for the first time. I found it hard to read and somewhat clumsy. Too many disparate ideas introduced for no benefit at all... other than sensational parts for the time. As it covers stuff that was deemed 'sensitive', to say the least, during communism, I can see the fascination it produced at the time. That isn't the case anymore though or maybe I see things differently now or a bit of both. The film tries too much to cover many aspects from the book, the result being a concoction of scenes that may make some sense to someone who read the book. Even so this is a film that is difficult to watch and maybe should have never been made.