Daniel Popa Movies
Gil-Scott Heron once wrote "the revolution will not be televised," but one Romanian newsman attempts to put his nation's revolution on the air after the fact in this satiric comedy from writer and director Corneliu Porumboiu. It's the sixteenth anniversary of the revolt that removed Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu from power in Romania, and Jderescu (Ion Sapdaru) is the host of a televised public affairs show who wants to do a special program on the revolution. Jderescu's idea is to bring on a handful of ordinary citizens to discuss their role in Ceausescu's overthrow and how their lives have changed since Communist rule was swept from Romania. However, Jderescu can only round up two guests for his broadcast -- elderly Piscoci (Mircea Andreescu), who's more interested in playing Santa Claus for the neighborhood kids than talking politics, and Manescu (Teo Corban), a schoolteacher nursing a brutal hangover. As Jderescu tries to lead a serious discussion of how Romania has changed since Ceausescu was driven from power, the conversation wanders off on a tangent about where the revolution actually took place, and the waters become even more muddied when Jderescu opens up the phone lines for questions from viewers, most of whom have their own distinct (and strongly conflicting) memories of the Revolution . . . and one of which has a bone to pick with Manescu over some drunken insults he hurled the night before. A Fost Sau n-a Fost? (aka 12:08 East of Bucharest) received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mircea Andreescu, Teo Corban, (more)
A dying man wages a valiant battle to better his own life by altering the fate of the man responsible for murdering him in this supernatural thriller from director Peter Engert. Adam (Ezra Sutton) is on the verge of death. The man who put him there is his former friend Lock. But is it too late for Adam to prevent his own grim fate and save Lock from straying down the path of eternal damnation? As Adam begins to slip away, he has a vision in which God implores him to save his own life by getting Lock to repent for his sins. But there's a catch: while Adam will be able to see everything unfolding around him during his journey, he won't be able to hear or communicate with anyone directly. Realizing that his only hope of succeeding is to get to Lock emotionally, Adam attempts to steer his old friend in the direction of the girl with whom he once fathered a child. Meanwhile, Adam watches in pain as his grieving wife Eva (Gabi Gubas) and young daughter Emily do their best to carry on without him. Later, when Lock decides to kill Adam's family, Adam enters into a supernatural struggle of epic proportions as his ex-partner David reveals his true feelings for Eva. Could it be that in life Adam was no better than Lock? Over the course of his conversations with God, Adam begins to realize things about his life that he never knew during his time on Earth. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
