Synopsis
Foreword: Dan Chișu’s third feature film. A film about the illusion of getting rich in Romania. In a country where stories of people constantly searching for money are everywhere, some may come to believe that such a thing is not only possible, but also easily achievable.
Director: Dan Chișu
Scriptwriters: Dan Chișu
Cast: Adrian Titieni, Tudor Smoleanu, Anca Florescu, Ionuț Vișan, Cătălin Bordea, Marius Niță, Dragoș Bucur, Coca Bloos, Constantin Ghenescu, Nicodim Ungureanu, Ana Popescu, Oxana Moravec, Oreste Scarlat Teodorescu, Cătălin Neamțu, Rosana Oprea
Produced by: Dan Chișu, Giuliano Doman
Cinematography by: Ovidiu Gyarmath
Film editing by: Andrei Iancu
Sound: Dragoș Stanomir, Florian Titus Ardelean
Music: Paul Ilea (Sensor band)
Year: 2012
Category: feature film
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Duration: 105 minutes
PLOT SUMMARY
The film’s story follows two paths: that of a young couple who could become rich; on the other hand, there are two adults who, due to their lack of knowledge about modern technology, are duped by a fake online lottery. The two stories converge at the end, when all hope is lost. The four characters’ struggle to get rich is precisely what prevents them from seeing the real opportunity they have.
Read more…
„Chasing Rainbows” is part of the category of Romanian films (as well as sketches, short stories) that approach the subject of luck bestowed upon people overnight. I. L. Caragiale’s play „Two Lottery Tickets” is the most illustrating piece of Romanian literature on the subject. The character in this type of film / story is also typical: the naive.
The stories of Buzilă&Tocitu vs. Marius&Cosmina are built in parallel and connected at the end, taking the viewer through the protagonists’ dream of getting rich, fuelled all the more by a society full of stories about sudden enrichment. In „Chasing Rainbows” the characters’ naivety is dubbed by ignorance, reference to the comic-absurd situations generated in a society recently exposed to information technology.
Here, Dan Chișu’s comedy meets another Romanian film present on the Romanian films online platform Cinepub, Constantin Popescu’s short, “The Yellow Smiley Face”.
AWARD NOMINATIONS:
- 2013 – Cleveland International Film Festival, USA – Best Film (Feature-Length Fiction) Central and Eastern Europe
- 2013 – Gopo Awards – Best Actor in a Leading Role (Adrian Titieni)
- 2013 – Gopo Awards – Best Supporting Actor (Tudor Smoleanu)
- 2013 – Gopo Awards – Best Screenplay (Dan Chișu)
- 2013 – Gopo Awards – Best Editing (Andrei Iancu)
- 2013 – Gopo Awards – Best Cinematography (Gyarmath Ovidiu)
- 2013 – Gopo Awards – Best Music (Paul Ilea)
- 2013 – Gopo Awards – Best Sound (Dragoș Stanomir, Florian Titus Ardelean)
FESTIVALS:
- 2012 – Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF), Romania
- 2012 – Portobello Film and Video Festival, London
- 2013 – Mons International Love Film Festival, Belgium
- 2013 – Cleveland International Film Festival, USA
- 2013 – “Love is Folly” International Film Festival, Varna, Bulgaria
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
“Today’s Romania is bombarded with promotions and sweepstakes offering huge prizes. Not a day goes by without seeing a TV commercial about how you can get rich without working. The film aims to examine a society in which money earned quickly and without effort is more important than anything else in the world, by analyzing two atypical situations. Two generations, two stories with the same theme: the illusion of getting rich.” – Dan Chișu
CRITICAL REVIEWS:
“Dan Chișu explores this mirage of getting rich overnight, which has claimed victims across several generations, thereby revealing society’s immaturity and vulnerability. The director-screenwriter does so by skillfully alternating between two narrative threads — two seemingly disjointed worlds — that ultimately intersect. Both have a well-developed protagonist, alongside whom a supporting character with a similar background — and, implicitly, sharing their goals — gains significance.” – Mihai Fulger, cinepub.ro
“From a directorial standpoint, in addition to his excellent direction of the actors, Dan Chișu deserves credit for having conceived and portrayed — with the invaluable support of cinematographer Ovidiu Gyarmath and editor Andrei Iancu — the two narrative strands, or rather the two worlds of the characters, in a completely different way. The world of the technophobic elders is filmed in a sedate manner, with static, descriptive shots that are wider and longer, the filmmaker often opting for dolly shots rather than editing cuts. The approach is more theatrical, relying heavily on dialogue and its — unforced — humor. In contrast, the world of the technophile youths is filmed and edited much more dynamically (in keeping with the heroes’ perpetual agitation), with the handheld camera swiftly traversing the distances between characters and remaining constantly close to them, even resorting to subjective angles. A more tense treatment, in which atmosphere, spaces, facial expressions, and gestures play a prominent role. Thus, the gap between generations corresponds to the chasm between two modes of cinematic storytelling, and the film speaks not only of the illusion of wealth, but also of the distinct ways in which we relate to existence.” – Mihai Fulger, cinepub.ro
“Seeing Tocitu (Adrian Titieni) and Buzilă (Tudor Smoleanu) lost in the world of computers, many young people will laugh or fail to grasp the message. Computers, smartphones, tablets — technology in general — is already in the DNA of many of us. For older people, however, it remains an almost unknown realm.” – Marius Matache, mariusmatache.ro
TRIVIA:
- The film is Dan Chișu’s third feature-length film.
- Dănuț Florin Chișu, known to the public as Dan Chișu (born July 21, 1955, in Dăeni, Tulcea), is a Romanian actor, director, chef, and producer.
- He comes from a family of two children; his brother Lucian is a literary critic and worked at the magazine “Literatorul”, while his father was the warden of the local prison.
- He took the entrance exam several times in an attempt to enroll at IATC (University of Theater and Film, Bucharest), worked as a tour guide, and entered into a marriage of convenience in order to emigrate to France in 1982. In France, he worked at IBM and at Nouvelle Frontière, and in 1988 he met Ion Țiriac. After high school, he became friends with the members of the band Phoenix, with whom he went on tours across the country and developed a taste for the stage, thus avoiding a career in medicine, which his parents had wanted for him. In fact, according to Mișcarea de rezistență (The Resistence Movement), there are three people who had a massive influence on Chișu’s future career: Nicu Covaci from Phoenix, Alexandru Tocilescu, and Ion Țiriac. (rador.ro)
- In 1991, he founded the DaKINO International Film Festival, with the first two editions being student festivals, and in 1995, he developed the Night of the Advertising Devourers in Romania.
- Since 1998, he has been Goran Bregović’s promoter in Romania; Bregović performed in 2007 at Sibiu, European Capital of Culture. He has acted in films such as “The Senator of Snails” (1995), “Asphalt Tango” (1996), “The Famous Paparazzo” (1999), as well as in the short films “Duty” (2006) and “Excursion” (2014). (rador.ro)
- Later, with “Bucharest NonStop” (2013), he won the “Coup de Coeur du Jury” award at last year’s Mons Love Film Festival. In 2003, he founded “Cafe DeKo”, the place where history is made and where Romania’s first stand-up comedy and improvisational theater shows took place, right next to the Bucharest National Theater. From there, stand-up comedy spread and developed into a true phenomenon throughout the country. (rador.ro)
- In 2010, he made his debut as a director, screenwriter, and producer with the feature film “WebSiteStory”, and in 2011, he released his second production, “The Bear”. Since then, he has directed and produced over 30 independent films, acclaimed by critics and audiences alike.
LINES:
• “Write concisely; no one’s going to build you a statue.” – The worker (Nicodim Ungureanu)
• “To get really drunk, we have to eat well.” – Tocitu (Adrian Titieni)
• “Goods can’t stay in the ledger anymore; they have to be in the computer.” — Tocitu (Adrian Titieni)
• “I’m an environmentalist—I only smoke weed!” — Cucu (Cătălin Bordea)
• “My friends are a little high.” — Marius (Ionuț Vișan)
• “It’s like they were all born with computers in their arms; their mothers gave birth to them on the internet!” – Tocitu (Adrian Titieni)
• “A resume is a kind of autobiography.” – Tudor Smoleanu (Buzilă)
• “Is my dad’s name Tocitu? Is he alive? Yes or no?” – Marius (Ionuț Vișan)
• “I’ll stop by tomorrow to install some antivirus software for you.” – The computer instructor (Dragoș Bucur)
• “I’ll teach you tomorrow how to avoid spam mails.” – The computer instructor (Dragoș Bucur)
• “Give me your phone; I’m out of credit.” – Cosmina (Anca Florescu)
• “You didn’t put any tobacco in it? We’re going to get really high.” – Marius (Ionuț Vișan)
• “That’s it, I’m sick of being a millionaire!” – Tocitu (Adrian Titieni)
ARTICLES:
- Screening of the film “Chasing Rainbows” at ICR Istanbul – icr.ro
- Screening of the film “Chasing Rainbows” + Sensor Band concert – urban.ro
- I saw “Chasing Rainbows” – zilesinopti.ro
- The film “Chasing Rainbows”, directed by Dan Chișu, presented at Cinemateca Union – hotnews.ro
- The gala premiere of the film “Chasing Rainbows”, directed by Dan Chișu, will take place on November 2 – ziarulmetropolis.ro
- The charismatic artist Dan Chișu turns 68. Happy birthday! – rador.ro
