Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

SergiuPetrisor For those who never "experienced" communism, this may seem off the charts but rest assured as such stories could be more than simple legends. In fact, communism provided numerous stories.. some were true, some were a bit dramatized but as the Romanian saying goes, "there is some grain of truth in every story". Every film should be judged on the period in which it was created and given the story it tells and this movie should make no exception. Considering the fact that a movie has to be an excellent blend of a good scenario, perfectly balanced acting, inspiring music and stunning visuals, it's hard to make a 10 out of 10 movie so, I have to conclude by giving it a 9. As I am a native Romanian you would have to consider my 9 an actual 8, stripping down my subjectivity. The scenarios are excellent and not far from the truth, we have indigenous music and the acting is extremely picturesque and relevant. There are many great Romanian actors here! At this point I have to remind the reader that this is not a documentary as misleadingly written previously, but a artistic movie. As far as the stories go, I don't find them to be over exaggerated. The reviews that pointed out an over exaggerated perspective are in fact misleading. Street mopping / sweeping was not something close to science fiction at all. In fact, in reality, a party inspection was often accompanied by highly more absurd but true actions, such as hanging additional fruits in fruit trees in order for the production to seem misleadingly larger..etc and all kind of similar tricks in order to distort reality and conceal the raw and painful truth - misery, cold, hunger, poverty, sadness and many more. So, in fact, what seam to be funny stories are in fact allegorical screen played facts that speak of a naked truth. Through these allegorical perspective, every story tells or focuses on an actual truth telling fact like: gullibility, poverty, tyranny, servitude, lies and censorship and many more. Try to read between the lines of the script, try to connect with the era and the Balkanic mood and enjoy the well screened stories of ages not long past. Enjoy!

badeavasile Before actually seeing this motion picture I attempted to induce myself a complete amnesia related to this black page of Romanian history. When I was just a kid I almost died in a crowd struggling to buy some sort of food in a Romanian market. I'm not quite a big fan of the theme called communism. Nevertheless, I've seen some great and bad movies on the subject. Maybe one to many. For an easterner, or to be more precise, for a Romanian born in communism, the film strikes home like a time machine, from the beginning till the end.Every situation, ironical or sinister, can bring both hysterical laughter and painful memories you'd thought you'll never relive again. All the environment and the acting are amazingly truthful. In fact, you could ask any Romanian born before '89 and acknowledge his personal story through this film. My mother saw "Tales from the Golden Age" and couldn't be convinced it is just a movie played by actors, cause she almost recognized every character in the person of x or y. The reason? She lived for so long nearby the zealous Party activist, the grabby militiaman, the highbinder who represented the centralized authority, the possible unfair penalty pushing you to say "what have I done wrong?", terms like Party assignment, ideological correctness, Eastern egg ration; she, like many others, inhaled the stench of the chemical factory first hand. I mean she had her ball... A big chunk of communist history, served cold.Every Romanian who lived through communism could tell you what is like to darkly watch Bruce Lee on the illegal VCR machine, cramped with a dozen of people in a block room. Everyone knew the meaning of a present black Volga car or a white 4x4 Aro. Nobody forgot by now how cool was to wear blue jeans clothes afterhours; and no child forgot the bedtime stories told on the air. This is not average comedy. This is a black comedy of life, more like a drama in several episodes! The banana, the "Sibiu" salami brand, in fact any kind of meat in general, the eggs, etc... isn't just about common food anymore! These are true symbols of human survival in the communist Romania.20-30 years later Romanians still crowd in panic in front of the billing machines of the hypermarkets, just before holidays...like there's no tomorrow... like a sad apple, reminding of the Golden Age... and the "old ways" still prevail along with the bell ringer. But at least now they can listen to Pink Floyd without a hassle, and that's keeping me happy and gives me hope.

mehmet_kurtkaya When the movie started, first the names of corporate sponsors rolled down, then the jokes.This movie, as I had expected, took a caricatural shot at Romania during socialist period but the timing could not have been worse, as capitalism collapsed around the world spectacularly.The movie told the stories simply but efficiently and displayed daily lives of Romanians before their transformation to a free market economy.What I liked about the movie was to see inside the houses and rural villages of Romania during socialism. To see their naivete , when they expect an inspection by a government official, when they drink and have fun, even when they steal stuff. In capitalism by contrast you need to have grand schemes, people with thousand dollar suits and a little help from the government in order to steal. But the payoff is not a few dollars like in socialism but trillions of them! To paraphrase the slogan in the movie: Legend has it that the ex-socialist countries of Latvia and Letonia are in the brink of bankruptcy just like Iceland. Romania is in pretty bad shape too, like other Eastern European countries. So basically it takes 50 years of socialism to build a country from the ashes of WWII and only 20 years of capitalism to bankrupt it. Pretty good deal, now they will have to learn to slave for capitalism for the rest of their lives! I watched the movie during Istanbul Film Days, the movie was a bit long and people got bored towards the end. Acting was great, directing was solid.And as final note may I suggest the director Cristian Mingiu to cut back on listening to Radio Free Europe and see films by Michael Moore and learn a bit what is happening at the den of capitalism. Legend has it that the corporations left and right are getting a little socialist help from their government!

Macovei Vlad First thing first, this movie was no news for a citizen of Romania, just a reassurance of what we were. In the theater people were laughing at the apparently comical events that were presented in the film, but if we stay and think for a minute or two, we realize that these things really happened in Romania, and they were ordinary. Not only that, but people were really used to it and gave up easily when for example they had to be nice puppets and obey the higher officer's orders and act like you are a slave. Some people in that period actually fought and obviously lost, ending up in prisons or working as real slaves on different dirty and disgusting jobs. The occidentals can not despise us more than we despise ourselves for what we were, but if you watch this movie, you will know for sure.In other words, this is a movie worth seeing, which is for Romania that used to hide it's past behind the finger, a really cruel movie and even if on the facade it might be funny this movie is the most brutal ones in a while. Can't wait for the next one that's coming up this month!