Introduced as a film preservationist’s recent discovery and told with the utmost accuracy to its specified time period, “Comrade Detective” is, by all discernible indication, a Romanian television series from the ’80s that’s been restored and dubbed for American audiences. Executive producer Channing Tatum and host John Ronson say so in welcoming viewers to the series:
“Similar to American propaganda films like ‘Red Dawn’ and ‘Rocky IV,’ that demonized the Eastern block, ‘Comrade Detective’ was produced and funded by the Romanian government not merely to entertain, but to celebrate and promote communist ideals,” Ronson says.
“After a two-decade journey spanning four continents, hundreds of dead-end leads, and the cooperation of five international governments, we have finally tracked down and restored the international master copies — and dubbed them.”
Read More‘Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later’ Review: New Netflix Season Is Better Than the Prequel
Once the footage rolls,...
“Similar to American propaganda films like ‘Red Dawn’ and ‘Rocky IV,’ that demonized the Eastern block, ‘Comrade Detective’ was produced and funded by the Romanian government not merely to entertain, but to celebrate and promote communist ideals,” Ronson says.
“After a two-decade journey spanning four continents, hundreds of dead-end leads, and the cooperation of five international governments, we have finally tracked down and restored the international master copies — and dubbed them.”
Read More‘Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later’ Review: New Netflix Season Is Better Than the Prequel
Once the footage rolls,...
- 8/4/2017
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
Whoa! Okay, um, this trailer was ... not what I was expecting at all! Seriously, I think that Amazon and A24 might be spying on me, because this show looks to be tapping into far too many of my comedic sensibilities for the studio to have not done "market research" on me. In Comrade Detective, which debuts later this summer, Romanian actors Florin Piersic... Read More...
- 7/27/2017
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
George Dorobanțu likes independent movies and not only that he likes them but also he makes some of these. He started with Elevator – his first feature – that was made in 2008 with a $200 dollar budget. The film's setting was in an… elevator (of course). So we have nothing but a boy, a girl, both stuck on an elevator. This film brought to George Dorobanțu the Best Newcomer award at 2008 Tiff Romanian Days. This year, the Romanian director has another film included in the Tiff Romanian Days section. It’s his second feature, it’s a documentary (although not a classic documentary), and it’s called Bucharestless. The film was shot on miniDV with a $1500 dollar budget. Dorobanțu is the director, the scriptwriter, the cinematographer and also the editor. He worked with Alexandra M. Păun (producer and cinematographer) and with Lex Dumitru (music composer). The producers describe Bucharestless as a city-verite, a...
- 6/7/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
George Dorobanțu likes independent movies and not only that he likes them but also he makes some of these. He started with Elevator – his first feature – that was made in 2008 with a $200 dollar budget. The film's setting was in an… elevator (of course). So we have nothing but a boy, a girl, both stuck on an elevator. This film brought to George Dorobanțu the Best Newcomer award at 2008 Tiff Romanian Days. This year, the Romanian director has another film included in the Tiff Romanian Days section. It’s his second feature, it’s a documentary (although not a classic documentary), and it’s called Bucharestless. The film was shot on miniDV with a $1500 dollar budget. Dorobanțu is the director, the scriptwriter, the cinematographer and also the editor. He worked with Alexandra M. Păun (producer and cinematographer) and with Lex Dumitru (music composer). The producers describe Bucharestless as a city-verite, a...
- 6/7/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Dan Chişu's first feature film has been selected for this year's FilmFest Hamburg, in the Eurovisuell section. A festival which features several heavyweight European films included the low budget drma meant to wake up adults to the new reality of the internets. WebSiteStory follows an 18-year-old girl, named Laura, who spends a night in a club with her friend Mira. During the night, she gets drunk and smokes her first joint. Next day in the morning, Laura can't remember anything and finds out that her friend is dead. Logically, she wants to know what happened to Mira and starts to look out through Mira's YouTube posts, hoping she discovers the truth. She wants to avenge Mira‘s death no matter what. And, in the end, her story of revenge returns to the internet, the place where it all began. WebSiteStory is just the story of a premeditated murder out of...
- 10/4/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
LONDON -- It has been 10 years since Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola last worked behind the camera, but high expectations for his new feature Youth Without Youth, which screened Sunday at the RomaCinemaFest, are dashed as it proves to be a muddled fantasy about the transmigration of souls.
Handsomely made on a low budget, the film has the polished look of a Coppola film with expert contributions from some master craftsmen. But the story is full of arcane references that many will find nonsensical, and the performances are a letdown. Lacking coherence and suspense, the picture is likely to attract a cult following while disappointing Coppola's fan base.
Tim Roth plays an elderly linguistics scholar who is struck by lightning and not only begins to grow younger but also can master languages he never knew. Beginning in Bucharest, Romania, in 1938, the story has Nazi spies, fascists and a beautiful young woman who also is struck by lightning. She, however, is turned into a seventh century disciple of Chandrakirti who can speak ancient tongues and starts aging at a furious rate.
The far-fetched tale relates the strange events that overtake 70-year-old Dominic Roth) after he is struck by lightning while planning suicide. Delighted to learn that he is getting younger, he is troubled to discover he has a double that materializes with evil intent. Dominic is further alarmed by the attentions of a sexy Nazi spy known only as the Woman in Room 6 (Alexandra Pirici) and the evil Dr. Josef Rudolf (Andre M. Hennicke) who employs her.
Fleeing to Switzerland, the scholar survives World War II and continues his work until one day he encounters two young women who soon afterward run their car off the road in a storm. One of them, Veronica Alexandra Maria Lara), survives, but having been struck by lightning she now speaks Sanskrit and calls herself Rupini.
Eventually Veronica re-emerges as herself, but Dominic not only believes she is Rupini reincarnated but he also falls in love with her. As he is getting younger by the day while she gets older, something has to give. Not to mention the meddlesome double.
Coppola's screenplay lurches from one extreme to the next, while as director he indulges unexceptional acting. Roth fails to establish Dominic as a vital character. His best screen outings are when he's animated by villainy, but here his doleful countenance sinks into the scholar's passive vulnerability.
Coppola is clearly captivated by the mystical contemplations of Romanian author Mircea Eliade, upon whose novella the film is based, but his fascination hasn't translated into a fascinating motion picture. Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. uses a static camera to capture production designer Calin Papura's atmospheric sets, while editor Walter Murch assembles it all with typical skill.
YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH
Sony Pictures Classics
American Zoetrope presents a SRG Atelier, Pricel and BIM Dsistribuzione production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director-producer: Frances Ford Coppola
Based on the novella by: Mircea Eliade
Executive producers: Anahid Nazarian, Fred Roos
Director of photography: Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Production designer: Calin Papura
Music: Osvaldo Golijov
Costume designer: Gloria Papura
Editor: Walter Murch
Cast:
Dominic: Tim Roth
Veronica/ Laura/Rupini: Alexandra Maria Lara
Professor Stanciulescu: Bruno Ganz
Woman in Room 6: Alexandra Pirici
Dr. Josef Rudolf: Andre M. Hennicke
Professor Tucci: Marcel Inures
Pandit: Adrian Pintea
Dr. Gavrila: Florin Piersic Jr.
Dr. Chirila: Zoltan Butuc
Anetta: Adriana Titieni
Running time -- 124 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Handsomely made on a low budget, the film has the polished look of a Coppola film with expert contributions from some master craftsmen. But the story is full of arcane references that many will find nonsensical, and the performances are a letdown. Lacking coherence and suspense, the picture is likely to attract a cult following while disappointing Coppola's fan base.
Tim Roth plays an elderly linguistics scholar who is struck by lightning and not only begins to grow younger but also can master languages he never knew. Beginning in Bucharest, Romania, in 1938, the story has Nazi spies, fascists and a beautiful young woman who also is struck by lightning. She, however, is turned into a seventh century disciple of Chandrakirti who can speak ancient tongues and starts aging at a furious rate.
The far-fetched tale relates the strange events that overtake 70-year-old Dominic Roth) after he is struck by lightning while planning suicide. Delighted to learn that he is getting younger, he is troubled to discover he has a double that materializes with evil intent. Dominic is further alarmed by the attentions of a sexy Nazi spy known only as the Woman in Room 6 (Alexandra Pirici) and the evil Dr. Josef Rudolf (Andre M. Hennicke) who employs her.
Fleeing to Switzerland, the scholar survives World War II and continues his work until one day he encounters two young women who soon afterward run their car off the road in a storm. One of them, Veronica Alexandra Maria Lara), survives, but having been struck by lightning she now speaks Sanskrit and calls herself Rupini.
Eventually Veronica re-emerges as herself, but Dominic not only believes she is Rupini reincarnated but he also falls in love with her. As he is getting younger by the day while she gets older, something has to give. Not to mention the meddlesome double.
Coppola's screenplay lurches from one extreme to the next, while as director he indulges unexceptional acting. Roth fails to establish Dominic as a vital character. His best screen outings are when he's animated by villainy, but here his doleful countenance sinks into the scholar's passive vulnerability.
Coppola is clearly captivated by the mystical contemplations of Romanian author Mircea Eliade, upon whose novella the film is based, but his fascination hasn't translated into a fascinating motion picture. Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. uses a static camera to capture production designer Calin Papura's atmospheric sets, while editor Walter Murch assembles it all with typical skill.
YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH
Sony Pictures Classics
American Zoetrope presents a SRG Atelier, Pricel and BIM Dsistribuzione production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director-producer: Frances Ford Coppola
Based on the novella by: Mircea Eliade
Executive producers: Anahid Nazarian, Fred Roos
Director of photography: Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Production designer: Calin Papura
Music: Osvaldo Golijov
Costume designer: Gloria Papura
Editor: Walter Murch
Cast:
Dominic: Tim Roth
Veronica/ Laura/Rupini: Alexandra Maria Lara
Professor Stanciulescu: Bruno Ganz
Woman in Room 6: Alexandra Pirici
Dr. Josef Rudolf: Andre M. Hennicke
Professor Tucci: Marcel Inures
Pandit: Adrian Pintea
Dr. Gavrila: Florin Piersic Jr.
Dr. Chirila: Zoltan Butuc
Anetta: Adriana Titieni
Running time -- 124 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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