Otilia Haraga
"How I Spent the End of the World" director Catalin Mitulescu returned to the shooting location to fete the official launch of the movie that will take place tomorrow at Cinema Studio.
The dumping ground on the outskirts of the Colentina neighborhood seems like the perfect location for the filming of "The End of the World." After getting on an old bus reminiscent of the communist period, guests are taken to the middle of nowhere where they are awaited by the film crew and the director with fiddlers and a brass band to party before the premiere. On the way they pass a railway and a road full of holes where dogs are masters, as the uniform grey blocks grow smaller and smaller in the distance.
"I grew up on a street here in this neighborhood and in a way I think I returned to film here," said Mitulescu in an informal press conference that took place on the street. "I like the cinema that results from something very real and authentic, from the street, and turns into magic. I find it is rather rare, and precisely because of this, more precious," said Mitulescu.
The party, like the movie, sends participants on a journey into old memories. "We believed in our own emotions and memories," said Mitulescu, who was only 17 when the anti-communist revolution occurred. "We turned back in time and rediscovered something. By experiencing these (emotions) once more, I can say good-bye to those times," said the director who announced that his next movie will not take place in the same period.
"How I Spent the End of the World" is the coming-of-age story of 17-year-old Eva and her 7-year-old brother Lalalilu in the last year before the fall of the communist regime. By telling the story from their perspective, the movie manages not to become a bitter and grim vision on the time but rather a way for Romanians to come to terms with the ghosts of the past when "we only had warmth ... in our hearts" and "we knew only limits ... but had dreams which had no limits," according to the director. As far as the young generation is concerned, the movie serves as a source of information. Teenage actor Ionut Becheru, who played the son of Securitate agent Ceausica, admitted he learned more about Ceausescu while shooting this movie than he did in school. "In school we were not told much," he said.
Released in France on August 30, "How I Spent the End of the World" was seen by 12,000 people in nine days, a record number for a movie distributed in only 30 copies. A good guarantee for the success of the movie in Romanian cinemas may be, apart from a cast of actors well known to the public that includes Carmen Ungureanu, Mircea Diaconu, Florin Zamfirescu and Jean Constantin, is that lead actress Dorotheea Petre was awarded top prize in the "Un Certain Regard" section in Cannes. Director Catalin Mitulescu was also awarded in Cannes, having won the Palme D'or for his short length movie "Traffic" in 2004. Additionally, "The Aviator" director Martin Scorseze and "Don't Come Knocking" director Wim Wenders serve as executive producers.
Copyright © 2004-2006 Bucharest Daily News
An aristocratic title is not enough to ensure a noble behaviour. A person's greatness comes from acknowledging the mistakes and agreeing to correct them.
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
*** sustineti [romania_eu_list] prin 2% din impozitul pe 2005 - detalii la http://www.doilasuta.ro ***
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