Romanian film review – Now Showing: 5GANG, Love 2. America, The Nostalgia for Dictatorship, The Oak

The new year features number of eagerly awaited productions, and until they start premiering (headlined by Alexander Nanau’s documentary Colectiv/Collective, about the tragic fire at the eponymous Bucharest club in October 2015 and the massive ripple of public rage it caused), here are a few thoughts on the titles currently showing.

The first one is the most successful Romanian film of the past 30 years, which is probably also the reason it’s still showing. If 5GANG: Un altfel de Crăciun/5GANG: A Different Kind of Christmas still says nothing to you, you might be in best company with anyone over the age of 20. 5GANG features Selly, an incredibly successful 19-year old vlogger and singer in real life, and now also an actor. He is joined by his band mates (5Gang is the name of their real-life band) and other real-life local celebrities. The story unfolds over Christmas (you’d be forgiven for forgetting the Christmas aspect since it’s quite random; it might as well be summertime) as Selly is kept against his will in the mansion of a local mobster, forced to entertain his spoiled daughter (a little creature of pure evil), while he has some issues to solve with his band, and also meeting a potential love interest. The action is fast and (mostly) funny, with the predictable ending paying am homage to friendship and kindness, which can solve it all (the terrible kid included). This and the film‘s absolute lack of affectation is probably the reason for its huge success, and I assume also its performers’ genuine joy of being in it (despite an obvious lack of acting experience). They make 5GANG’s flaws tolerable and with such tongue-in-cheek joy, the film seems to be continuing its deserved walk of fame.

Dragoste 2. America/Love 2. America is the second part of Florin Șerban’s Love trilogy, following Dragoste 1. Câine/Love 1. Dog. Just as its predecessor it is a two-hander with ambitious ideas but less engaging in its execution. The setting is once again a house in the woods, also housing a couple but this time it’s two lovers who must prepare for parting ways since he is to leave (probably to America). Beautifully shot and atemporal in setting and atmosphere, but pretentious and stilted, it fails to move, which, for a film on love, is a let-down.