Synopsis
Set in the 1910’s Transylvanian countryside, a poor but industrious peasant must choose between his obsessive lust for riches and his desire for true love.
Directed by: Mircea Mureșan
Script: Titus Popovici, Liviu Rebreanu
Cast: Șerban Ionescu, Ioana Crăciunescu, Sorina Stănculescu, Valentin Teodosiu, Petrică Gheorghiu, Ion Besoiu, Octavian Cotescu, Tamara Buciuceanu-Botez, Catrinel Dumitrescu, Rodica Negrea, Romeo Pop, Leopoldina Bălănuță, Ion Hidișan, Valeria Seciu, Costel Constantin, Petre Lupu, Ferenc Fábián
Producers: Vasile Istrate
Cinematography by: Ion Marinescu
Edited by: Elena Pantazica
Sound: Nicolae Ciolca
Music:Gheorghe Zamfir
Year: 1980
Category: Feature film
Genre: Drama
Duration: 95 minutes
87,280 – Cinepub viewers
PLOT SUMMARY
Ion (Șerban Ionescu), a poor peasant from the village of Prislop, also wants to become wealthy. His plan is to force Vasile Baciu (Petre Gheorghiu), one of the rich men in the village, to give him his daughter, Ana (Ioana Crăciunescu), in marriage, and along with her, the lands.
However, Ana becomes pregnant, and Ion waits for the right moment for the deal. At the same time, Ion is passionately in love with Florica (Sorina Stănculescu), a beautiful but poor girl. Ion desires both Ana’s dowry and Florica’s love. Eventually, Ion marries Ana, who, despised by everyone, will commit suicide, and Florica marries a rich young man, Gheorghe Buluc (Valentin Teodosiu), whom she does not love. Ion, attempting one night to sneak into her bed, will be beaten to death by Gheorghe.
CRITICAL REVIEWS
“The trajectories of the characters are inscribed and melted into a fresco crafted with a sense of measure, with accents attenuated or emphasized in remarkable fluency.” – Valerian Sava – 1980 (Cinema)
TRIVIA
- Screen adaptation of Liviu Rebreanu’s novel “Ion”.
- The debut film of actor Șerban Ionescu.
- The film is made in 2 “autonomous” series: “The Lust of the Land” and “The Lust of Love”. To create autonomy between the two parts, a special beginning was created for the second part with the editing of sequences from the first part.
- In 1980, a TV series was made in 5 episodes titled “Ion”, by reediting the filmed material and adding new sequences. In 1984, a shortened version of the film (in 11 acts) was made to be broadcast in America.
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.
