Tora Vasilescu Movies

With his feature Love Sick, Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu paints a sensitive and tender observational portrait of falling for the first time - for the same gender - as experienced by two female co-eds. Cristina, nicknamed Kiki (Maria Popistasu) is an urban girl from Bucharest; outgoing, outspoken, playful and ebullient, she much prefers partying to hitting the books. Alex (Ioana Barbu), who hails from rural Pietrosita, Romania, might be described as Kiki's exact opposite -- taciturn, soft-spoken and introverted, she immerses herself in her studies. The two sense an immediate attraction and become romantically and sexually involved, to the consternation of Kiki's brother Sandu (Tudor Chirila), who feels a significant degree of incestuous attraction toward her. As the tale unfurls, the girls' relationship spills over into the summer, with the two driving out to spend the warm months at Alex's family's home. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Two greedy sons of a peasant woman drool over the inheritance their mother receives in this satirical comedy. They drive their sister to suicide and turn her funeral into a celebration over their anticipated good fortune. None of the characters portrayed are likeable, and much of the humor is lost in the English subtitle translation from the original Rumanian dialogue. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Hampered by a low-budget, director Mircea Veroiu has still created an effective black-and-white film on the resistance movement in Romania in 1934. The story focuses on the exploits of Sarka (Gheorghe Visu), a circus performer, and Horatio (Claudio Bleont), a student, as they join forces to fight rising fascism in Romania -- but many viewers would read parallels to the situation in the country in the early 1980s (several years before the bloody dictator Ceausescu was ousted from his military rule and executed). Sarka and Horatio are shown risking life and limb; at one point, they hide submerged in a water tower to escape detection by Nazi soldiers, and at another point, Sarka is sprung from jail by one of his courageous circus friends. Eventually, Sarka and Horatio become separated, and although it might be easier for at least one to survive on his own, the odds against both surviving are very low indeed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A cameraman (Micea Daneliuc) and the older, female reporter he accompanies on daily rounds for the television news shows, have become so jaded that life around them seems to occur only in frames and sound bytes - until the cameraman runs into an intriguing, attractive woman on the train. She is dodging the ticket-taker and so the cameraman gracefully buys a ticket for her, an act which leads to their eventual mutual acquaintance and the continued borrowing of money. The cameraman finally finds out that she is supporting the rehab efforts of her alcoholic brother. In his own bumbling way, he tries to get to know her better when all his hopes are dashed - he is called to serve in the army. That keeps him away from the pursuit of his mystery woman, and also from the increasingly amorous clutches of the older female reporter. One day while he is on leave he sees his mystery woman in a crowd on the street, catches up with her, and tells her how he really feels - only to have her disappear into the crowd again. Now he must make a major decision - should he continue looking for this woman and pursue his ideals, or return to life as he knew it before her? The cinema-verite techniques and semi-documentary approach of the cinematography in this film add another dimension to the telling of the story: it is related from the point of view of the cameraman all along. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi