Romanian film review: School's Not Out for Summer

Spring time is almost summer time, and what better season for glossy high school movies? And I am not talking about the summer multiplex pics made in Hollywood, but about a proper high school movie set and filmed in Romania. Școala de vară - with no official English title yet, but I venture to say that Summer School would be the probable translation – is a holiday movie for and with teenagers, following all the rules of the genre. Irina is the new girl at an arts high school and as such she is easy bait for the mean popular kids. However, she can really hit the drums and joins the school's rock band while catching the attention of the school hottie at the same time. Meanwhile, the school's gym, which is also the rehearsal room, is threatened with closure. It is not that there haven't been any high school pics set in Romanian before but one has to admire how happily this one borrows from mainstream Hollywood fare. You know the drill: an outcast is transferred to a new school, she/he gets bullied by the popular girls/football jocks, she/he amazes everyone with some spectacular talent, she/he hooks up with the most popular and good-looking person in school. Who miraculously happens to be the only decent popular kid. Bonus: she/he saves the entire school. This is where the romantic/coming-of-age story meets the let's save-our school-story. I am sure you know this one as well: school is threatened by a nasty board/local commissioner (fill in what you like) and only the united pupils can save it through some wildly daring and original scheme. If possible, add some rock/hip-hop music and dance routines to the mix. All's well that ends well. Nothing wrong with cliches though, they can be a lot of fun to play with if done wisely: just take a look at the delicious teen comedy Easy A.Școala de vară is not that fond of irony and sticks pretty close to the original recipe. But it does so very honestly and without any high-brow intention. And this is no small compliment, it delivers exactly what it promises: light entertainment, some catchy music, lots of teenage talk, and the conviction that art unites people. The project has an interesting background: it originated in a real-life workshop and all the young actors are non-professionals. So kudos for educating kids in acting and making them work together on a creative project. The downside is that not all of them are very natural at delivering lines... But they all seem to have such a great time, so not bad for a first movie. If you or your children want to indulge in a summer flick, these are eighty minutes filled with fun teenage fantasies. Just watch out: it might make your kid want to take up drumming. Check out the film's screenings at