Amintiri din epoca de aur
| Tales from the Golden Age | |
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US film poster
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| Directed by |
Hanno Höfer Cristian Mungiu Constantin Popescu Ioana Uricaru Răzvan Mărculescu |
| Produced by |
Cristian Mungiu Oleg Mutu |
| Written by | Cristian Mungiu |
| Starring | Tania Popa |
| Music by | Hanno Höfer Jimi Laco (Nightlosers) |
| Cinematography | Liviu Marghidan Oleg Mutu Alex Sterian |
| Edited by | Dana Bunescu Ioana Uricaru |
| Distributed by | Wild Bunch |
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Release date
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Running time
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138 minutes |
| Country | Romania |
| Language | Romanian |
Tales from the Golden Age (Romanian: Amintiri din epoca de aur) is a 2009 Romanian omnibus film. It was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
The film is composed of six whimsical yet blackly comic short stories, each one set in the late communist period in Romania and based on urban myths from the time, reflecting the perspective of ordinary people. The title of the film refers to the alleged "Golden Age" (by communist propaganda) of the last 15 years of Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime. Each episode concludes with "legend tells us ... ", each item being legend because, of course, no such thing could have happened during the "Golden Age".
The Legend of the Official Visit (Romanian: Legenda Activistului în Inspectie)
Local Party officials scurry into action when a motorcade of VIPs and foreign dignitaries promises to pass through the village. A government official arrives and attention is paid to the smallest detail, yet the people are let down when a phone call reveals the motorcade is no longer coming. With everyone disconsolate and the worse for drink, the official orders everyone to ride together on the children's carousel, but as the mayor passes out, they realize that there is no one to switch the machine off and get them down. Legend tells that they were all still trapped there when the motorcade did after all pass through.
The Legend of the Party Photographer (Romanian: Legenda Fotografului Oficial)
Newspaper editors and Party officials fret over a photograph of Ceaușescu and the visiting Giscard d'Estaing to be published in tomorrow's paper. Much argument is had over how best to doctor the photograph to make Ceaușescu appear taller than d'Estaing, and whether he should be wearing a hat. Pressure is mounting as the deadline to get the paper out to the workers approaches. A hat is duly provided for Ceaușescu in the photograph, but no one notices until too late that he was already carrying one, leaving the image of him comically carrying one hat while wearing another. Police are sent out to retrieve all the copies that had been sent out. One copy is left uncollected on a train, and its reader laughs at the picture. Legend tells us that this was the only time that the paper, Scînteia, did not reach the workers.
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Wikipedia