The Romanians always use their macabre sense of humor, of which they are inordinately proud, as a shield of personal irresponsibility against the reality around them," wrote director Lucian Pintilie on completion of the The Oak Tree. In that 1992 feature, Pintilie painted a damning portrait of life under communism. "But what happens when this shield stops being impenetrable?" asks Pintilie now, explaining what motivates his cinematic oeuvre: "That is the basic question I am asking in Trop Tard, and every one of my films."
For Pintilie in the post-Ceausescu era, there are still no simple answers. The old adage - the more things change, the more things stay the same - means he has redefined the question for the 90s. "What happens when terrifically imaginative, highly adaptable Evil - some recycled, revamped Evil - has overnight spawned an even fiercer society than that which played dead in order to survive? When the whole commmunist nomenklatura has turned into the nouveaux riches? When the mafia replaces the party? When the losers of yesteryear are turned into the programmed apes of today? When there is no more resistance - when there is nothing but exile? When it's all too late." Trop Tard presents Pintilie's ominous vision of today's Romania, a country in an even worse predicament than it was under Ceausescu.
The film follows Costa, a young trainee prosecutor, played by Razvan Vasilescu, who is sent to look into the suspicious death of a coalminer in the Jiu Valley. Accident or murder? The case is not clear cut, and Costa's investigation is hardly under way before the bodies of two other miners turn up in a disused mineshaft.
Aided by Alina (Cecilia Barbora), a young topographer, Costa's tenacity and sleuthing begin to cause a certain amount of unease among the powers that be - the mine's management are concerned because the pit is under threat of closure; the corrupt local authorities in cahoots with their counterparts in the capital, and the local bigwigs are all terrified that the skeletons in their cupboards will be exposed.
Discreet phone calls warning him to back off and arrive at a politically correct solution only increase his desire to get to the bottom of things. Costa carries on his relentless investigation despite threatening phone calls, only to discover what he should have realised all along - nobody, except for himself, is interested in the truth, especially when it is inconvenient.
Pintilie made his first impression on European cinema with his second feature, The Re-enactment. Although the film never received a wide release, it has still managed to acquire a kind of cult status. The Re-enactment follows two young students who go on a bender and beat up the barman. The local magistrate decides that as part of their punishment they should be forced to do a public re-enactment. Things go awry when the students get carried away by their improvisational flair, and the simulated re-enactment becomes terrifyingly real, ending in a bloody climax.
Pintilie's sharp observations on human nature and the behaviour and conduct of those in power have led him into conflict with the Romanian authorities. The Ceausescu regime banned the film, and it was only released after the demise of the Romanian dictator in 1990.
Notwithstanding, Pintilie became one of the most sought-after stage directors in Europe, both for theatre and opera productions, while his film career stalled. The Oak Tree, an explosive film set in the Ceausescu years, took Cannes by storm four years ago. It was hidden away in a sidebar, but people who saw it argued that it could have been a Palme d'Or contender.
Pintilie returned in 1994 in competition with An Unforgettable Summer, a handsome historical pageant carrying explicit allusions to contemporary issues, such as rabid nationalism and intolerance. The film lost to Pulp Fiction, but he's back with Trop Tard which hopefully will prove a more timely offering than its title suggests.
Edna Fainaru
Prod co: MK2 Productions in association with Le Studio de Creation Cinématographique du Ministere de la Culture Roumain and La Sept Cinema
Dir: Lucian Pintilie
Scr: Lucian Pintilie, Rasvan Popescu
Ph: Calin Ghibu
Prod des: Calin Papura
Cos: Catalina Ghibu
Ed: Victoria Nae
Cast: Razvan Vasilescu, Cecilia Barbora, Victor Rebengiuc, Dorel Visan, Ion Fiscuteanu, Mircea Rusu
Running time: 104mins
Int sales: MK2
