Ion Caramitru Movies
- 2002
- PG
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The collective crimes against humanity known as the Holocaust have been well-documented since the end of World War II, but lingering questions remain about how much was known about the Nazi mass-extermination schemes outside Germany, and what could have been done to prevent them. Political filmmaker Costa-Gavras confronts this thorny issue in this film, adapted from the stage drama The Representative and based in part on actual events. Kurt Gerstein (Ulrich Tukar) is a German chemist whose work on various government health projects led to him being added to the scientific staff of the Nazi SS. While working on disinfection and water purification programs to stem the tide of typhoid among German troops, Gerstein creates a toxic cleanser called Zyclon B. Gerstein soon learns that the SS has found a different use for Zyclon B -- in gas form, it is being used to exterminate Jews and other political undesirables en masse. Gerstein, a man of strong Christian faith, is horrified by this revelation, and he is determined to tell the world in hope of stopping the genocide; however, in Germany, Sweden, and the United States, Gerstein's story falls on deaf ears. One man who does believe Gerstein is Riccardo Fontana (Mathieu Kassovitz), a Jesuit with ties to the Vatican and close contact with Pope Pius XII (Marcel Iures). Fontana urges the Pope to speak out against the ongoing massacre, but the Pope declines, believing Russia is a greater menace to the Catholic Church than the Nazis. In time, desperate to spread the word of the holocaust, Gerstein and Fontana find themselves joining ranks with Roman Jews being rounded up by Nazi forces in occupied Italy. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ulrich Tukur, Mathieu Kassovitz, (more)
After he is framed for the death of several colleagues and falsely branded a traitor, a secret agent embarks on a daring scheme to clear his name in this spy adventure. Though it drew its name from the familiar television series, director Brian DePalma's big-budget adaptation shares little more with the original show than the occasional self-destructing message and the name of team leader Jim Phelps (Jon Voight). The film focuses not on Phelps but his protégé, Ethan Hunt (a reserved Tom Cruise), who becomes a fugitive after taking the blame for a botched operation. He responds by banding together with a group of fellow renegades, and he is soon maneuvering his way through a twisted series of double crosses that mainly serve as excuses for spectacular high-tech action sequences. Much of the activity revolves around a missing computer disk, with the film's most famous scene depicting Hunt's delicate efforts to retrieve the disk from a secure, well-alarmed room in CIA headquarters. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, (more)
Amid the bloody tumult of Communist dictator Ceausescu in 1989 Romania, a hedonistic and morally sidetracked physician, Daniel Pavenic (Michael Gambon), attempts to hold his annual dinner for 12 of his closest friends. Only three such friends are willing to brave the dangerous war-torn streets to go to Pavenic's mansion, where they find themselves investigating the shocking, debauched relationship between their host and a once-beautiful house servant. The more the guests learn about the twisted relationship, the more they find themselves re-entangled in their own dark memories. The book upon which this drama is based, The Two Deaths of Senora Puccini, by Stephen Dobyns, was set in Chile. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Gambon, Sonia Braga, (more)
- 1996
A cop goes into dangerous territory in this British made-for-television thriller. Colin Salmon stars as Detective Charlie Nolan, a cop who goes undercover to track down an underworld mob boss (Ion Caramitru) in Manchester. When he gets involved with the man's wife (Amanda Donohoe), he has to do everything he can to get out alive. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
Stephen Rea stars as a relentless Russian investigator in this made-for-cable thriller. Based on an actual case, this taut film tells the story of Burakov (Rea), a Russian forensic pathologist assigned to track down a brutal serial killer who is targeting young drifters. The nature of the assignment takes its toll on Burakov's personal life, as he tracks the killer for years despite the red-tape and bureaucracy of the Soviet state. Nominated for several awards overall that year, Donald Sutherland won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for his co-starring role as Rea's supportive superior, Fetisov. The movie was filmed in Hungary. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
- 1991
- PG13
Steve Soderbergh did a 180 degree turnaround from his debut film sex, lies, and videotape with Kafka, a stark art-film fable for literature majors. Jeremy Irons plays a fictional Franz Kafka, living in Prague in 1919. By day, Kafka works in a massive, impersonal insurance company. At night, he spends his time alone writing stories about men who turn into giant cockroaches. Although quiet and solitary, he becomes a suspect in a murder investigation conducted by Inspector Grubach (Armin Mueller-Stahl) when a friend of his turns up dead. Rather than being harassed by Grubach, Kafka decides to investigate his friend's murder on his own. Kafka speaks to his dead friend's girlfriend, Gabriela (Theresa Russell) and talks with gravestone carver Bizzlebek (Jeroen Krabbe). Kafka follows the clues to the Castle, a menacing tower that casts its shadow over the city and houses files on everything. He winds his way through the cellars and tunnels of the Castle, where he encounters the evil and insidious Dr. Murnau (Ian Holm), whom he hopes holds the solution to the murder. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Theresa Russell, (more)
- 1986
This teen love story concerns Alexander (Adrian Paduraru) and Ioana (Teodora Mares), two high school students in love. Their road to happiness is filled with a few bumps and potholes, as Alexander's attention is temporarily distracted by another lovely young teen, which does nothing to promote his relationship with Ioana. Worse yet, he is punished for some misbehavior at school and as an indirect result, he must to work in a mine for a time. These contretemps keep the two youngsters apart, but there is still hope that they just might run into each other again one day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Teodora Mares, Adrian Paduraru, (more)
- 1979
In the latter part of the 19th century, the Ottoman Turks still governed large portions of Eastern Europe and the Middle East and would in many cases retain control of those regions until after World War I. However, in 1877 Rumania fought a successful war of independence against the Turks. This film is set during that time, and follows the exploits of two brothers in love with the same woman. One of them is an innkeeper, the other is an Orthodox priest fighting for Rumanian independence who also indulges in a little Robin-Hood type theft to benefit the poor. They are both in love with the innkeeper's wife. The scenario is based on the story In Time of War by Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ion Caramitru
- 1978
A disjunction between city and village life, between modern adaptation and the cherishing of tradition pulls a mathematician first in one direction, and then in another. Initially, the mathematician rebels against the sacrifices he has to make to further his career. He breaks off with his girlfriend and heads back to the village where he grew up -- his roots need watering. Once in the village, he starts teaching to support himself and renews his relationship with his own teacher, but even life in the village is not what he had in mind when he left the city. His father himself has decided to live and work outside the village, and the mathematician begins to experience the truth of the saying that "you can't go home again." Alienation of self and society creeps into the experience of the old schoolteacher's own father as well. The latter works in a factory in the city and finds that his fellow workers have become too apathetic or simply incapable of keeping a balance between their village roots and the hard-core reality of a modern city. As the film reaches its ending, the "green, green grass of home" has taken on new tonalities. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Florin Zamfirescu, Octavian Cotescu, (more)
- 1978
Camil Petrescu's novel Last Night of Love, First Night of War, provided the inspiration for this story of two friends, one who is an activist and the other who is not. The friends are intellectuals accustomed to considering issues from broad perspectives and debating them. War intrudes on their lives and their country and injects a strong dose of emotional candor into their personal relationship. When the activist is captured by the police, the more passive tendencies of his friend are assaulted by increasingly extreme circumstances, and the country's own threatening situation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ion Caramitru, Ovidiu Luliu Moldovan, (more)
- 1975
In the mountainous region of Romania tensions escalate between the local villagers and a group of wealthy German settlers. One village woman manages to save a comfortable amount of money, enough to send her daughter to a good convent school. When the girl falls in love with a German boy, it is a source of considerable questioning both in her family and the boy's. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leopoldina Balanuta, Maria Ploae, (more)
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