Marilena de la P7

A gem of a film, which really packs as much as it can into 45 mins without feeling forced or contrived. A real tour-de-force from Nemescu, who will certainly be missed.

I don't care for this brand of social realism which seems very much indebted to the French 'banlieue' films, most notably "La Haine." It's a deeply cynical view of life as rife with sordid characters, each looking to advance their own agenda. Which is not to say that this is not found in life, but rather that things are more complex. The fantastical element is inadequately explored, relegating it to a curious and disintegrated footnote.

Puke. The story of a dumb kid, with dumb friends, and dumb parents, who, out of sheer lust, convinces himself he is in love with one of the local courtesans. I became tired of all these characters very quickly. Attempts at comedy fail, the fantasy element is seriously underbaked... and the climax is very ugly and unpleasant, and doesn't fit the rest of the movie at all. The most overlong and hard-to-sit-through 45-minute film I've seen for a long time. Is Romania *this* big a shithole?