The Way I Spent the End of the World-Cum mi-am petrecut sfarsitul lumii (2006)

Directed by: Catalin Mitulescu | 106 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Doroteea Petre, Ionut Becheru, Jean Constantin, Mircea Diaconu, Timotei Duma, Valentin Popescu, Marius Stan, Marian Stoica, Carmen Ungureanu, Cristian Vararu

Romania is slowly moving away from its communist and totalitarian past. Politicians are strongly opposed to the communist regime and cinema is also trying to come to terms with the Romanian past in its own way. For many Europeans, the Romanian situation will not be exactly on their mind; a movie like this can change that without being too dramatic or heavy. In a light-hearted, tragicomic atmosphere, important themes are touched upon and history is depicted on the basis of a small village, or more precisely, a family. Daughter Eva is seventeen and hangs out with one of the boys next door, Alex, the son of a police officer. When he accidentally breaks a bust of Ceausescu at school, Eva is eventually blamed and partly due to her stubborn attitude is sent to the Technical College. There she meets Andrei, son of dissidents who have come to live in the village. Andrei is smart, stubborn and different from other guys. That, along with the “danger” of dealing with him, makes him an interesting guy to Eva. He tells her of his plan to cross the Danube and go out into the wide world. When Eva’s little brother learns of this, he holds Ceausescu personally responsible for his sister’s imminent departure, and plots an attempt on his life.

Although it shouldn’t matter, it already looks much nicer because Eva looks so beautiful; it automatically makes her sympathetic. Because of her big brown eyes she can do little wrong. This also applies to her brother Lalalilu: he is extremely touching with his brand new grown-up teeth and innocent glance. The coming-of-age aspect of the plot is unspectacular, but the setting of the story is original and comically depicted. There is a lot of attention to detail: from the furnishings of the houses, the cars, clothes to the songs that are sung at school and the uniforms that have to be worn. It is also implicitly made clear that you could not just say everything to everyone at that time. What you really found, you kept private. But there is not only realism, the magical world of thoughts of the main characters is also depicted. Lalalilu has a secret desire to build a submarine and take those who want to take it to different destinations in Europe or the United States. The preparations Eva and her rebellious friend Andrei make to cross the Danube are also absurd and moving at the same time; the homemade life jacket as the highlight of this. Then there is the touching moment of the music lesson at school, where three boys innocently perform a communist song.

Together with the imagination of the young characters, the supporting roles also make an important contribution to a comical and pleasant whole. The boys from Eva’s class, the family of the family and especially the village idiot Bulba, among others, depict life in the small Romanian village at the end of the eighties. The final plot twist is also a nice variation on the all-too-standard happy ending. This is a film that uses historical factual events to tell a more personal story. With a beautifully acting main character, perfectly cast supporting roles and an eye for historical detail, it has become a film that is very worthwhile for Romanians as well as everyone else. There may even be something to learn from it.