An amazing present-day montage of propaganda images, which permits the viewer to make an independent judgement about the course of history.
The Rumanian director, Andrei Ujică, combines the rise and fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu – initially lauded as the man who would steer Rumania into the modern era, later hated as a cruel dictator. For more than twenty years Ceauşescu ruled his people with an iron hand until, on 25th December 1989 met his inglorious end at the hands of a firing squad.
Ujică collected historical documentary material and mounted it to portray an alienating political satire. We do not see an objective reproduction of the facts but a compilation of images controlled by the censor, intended to disseminate the image of Ceauşescu as an infallible ruler and standard-bearer for Communism.
… unequalled documentary … It is first-class irony … a complex, universal and topical story of he operation of leadership and mass psychology … daring, virtuoso and above all a very relevant documentary. (Filmotaal *****)
After all, a dictator is simply an artist who is able to fully put into practice his egotism. It is a mere question of aesthetic level, whether he turns out to be Baudelaire or Bolintineanu, Louis XVI or Nicolae Ceauşescu. (Andrei Ujică)
► The film will be introduced by the Romanian professor Basile Neacsa. He will talk about "What is a dictator?", focusing on "the rise and fall" of Nicolae Ceausescu. Neacsa is teaching at the ISIRP (Institute for Studies in International Relations and Public Policy) in Brussels / Liège and at the University of Boecharest.
► with Rumanian fingerfood (come hungry, leave satisfied)
Subtitles in English
2010, FR/RO, 180 min, 35mm, color
Director: Andrei Ujică
Producer: Velvet Moraru
Scenario: Andrei Ujică
Research:Titus Muntean
Sound: Dana Bunescu
Editing: Dana Bunescu
Distribution: EYE Film Instituut The Netherlands
With the support of Romanian Cultural Institute Brussels
