CIULEANDRA (1985) – drama film online

Directed by: Sergiu Nicolaescu
Script by: Sergiu Nicolaescu, Anusavan Salamanian, based on the novel by Liviu Rebreanu
Cast: Ion Rițiu, Anca Nicola, Gheorghe Cozorici, Ștefan Iordache, Gilda Marinescu, Corneliu Gîrbea
Producer: Dumitru Matală
Cinematography by: Nicolae Girardi
Edited by: Maria Neagu
Sound: Anusavan Salamanian
Music: Adrian Enescu
Year: 1985
Category: Feature film
Genre: Psychological Drama
Duration: 112 minutes

PLOT SUMMARY

After murdering his wife, Puiu Faranga is helped by his influential father to fake insanity and avoid prison. While confined in a psychiatric institution, he revisits the events that led to the crime. Through memories and psychological investigation, the film reveals a tragic story of obsession, social ambition and self-destruction.

AWARDS:

• 1985 – ACIN Award for Music (Adrian Enescu)
• 1987 – Pyongyang Film Festival – Best Cinematography (Nicolae Girardi)
• 1986 – Romanian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

FESTIVALS:

• 1986 – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – Official Selection

CRITICAL REVIEWS:

“Critics generally viewed the director’s effort positively, even though they did not find anything particularly innovative in the vision, and even though the adaptation was considered by some commentators to be merely ‘adequate.’ But the film has rhythm; cinematographer Nicolae Girardi—after a quarter-century-long career—was at the “peak of his form,” at the height of his creative powers, and director Sergiu Nicolaescu, relying primarily on young actors—Anca Nicola and Ion Rițiu appear in the lead roles—saw his investment of trust rewarded” (Călin Căliman, History of Romanian Cinema, 1897–2000)

“Nicolaescu reinstates the crime, omitted from Berger’s version, but completely removes the madness, delving deeper into the social elements of the story—closer to the literary source—while also simplifying it psychologically. That the ‘labor of past generations’ pulses through the son’s veins is stated, not shown. The preparation (the emergence from the shore of memory of increasingly clear images), abusively prolonged and followed by a rushed denouement, leads to a dramaturgical imbalance.” (Tudor Caranfil, www.radioromaniacultural.ro)

“Beyond the changes made at the cinematic level, the story’s balance is preserved, given that the necessary visualization of the era stems either from an extension of the emotional states described in the novel or from capturing echoes of other writings by the great Romanian prose writer.” (Ioana Creangă, România Literară)

„Mădălina’s murder may serve as a metaphor for the brutality of masculinity in those days. She was the sole embodiment of tenderness and rusticity in the political landscape where Puiu had grown up. She was different and, perhaps, posed a threat to the values already deeply rooted in his classism. If Ana in “Ion” is the victim from the rural setting, Mădălina is the one who “was saved” from there by men, against her will, ultimately becoming a victim of theirs as well.” (Lorena Theodora Neacșu, www.genrevista.com )

TRIVIA:

• The first film adaptation dates from 1930: *Verklungene Träume*, directed by Martin Berger
• Liviu Rebreanu was not satisfied with that production
• The title comes from the Romanian folk dance “Ciuleandra,” a symbol of primal energy and loss of control.
• During filming, the actress Anca Szönyi Thomas (Mădălina) commuted between Brăila, where she was working as a restorer on the renovation of the Maria Filotti Theater, and Bucharest

QUOTES:

• You didn’t kill her when you strangled her, but when you bought her like a cow
• Her gaze seemed to pierce right through me
• It wasn’t until later, when I began to love her, that I realized she didn’t belong to me

ARTICLES:

• „Ciuleandra (1985)”- cinemagia.ro
• „Theatre and Romanian Movies: Ciuleandra” – Radio România Cultural

This premiere is part of a national archive project supported by the Romanian National Film Centre.
Special thanks goes to the Romanian Filmmakers Union and to the Romanian Film Archive.

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