Synopsis
Three intellectuals in a moment of inner crisis, where moral values such as originality and boldness, freedom of creation, and non-conformism are overwhelmed by the assumed defeat and conformity.
Directed by: Mircea Săucan
Script: Horia Lovinescu
Cast: Margareta Pogonat, Mihai Pălădescu, Ana Széles, Dan Nuţu, Ernest Maftei, Radu Dunăreanu, Ion Tâlvan
Producers: Constantin Simionescu
Cinematography by: Gheorghe Viorel Todan
Edited by: Gabriela Nasta
Sound: Tiberiu Borcoman
Music: Tiberiu Olah
Year: 1966
Category: feature film
Genre: Drama
Duration: 89 minutes
14,031 – Cinepub viewers
PLOT SUMMARY
A film about a double failure: professional and sentimental. A genius architect ends up designing barracks and drawing posters. The woman he loves and who loves him fails in a marriage with another man (a mediocre, conformist guy), who provides her with a material comfort that few can enjoy in Romania’s “obsessive decade” (the 1950s-60s). Their son, reaching the age of questions and first major life choices, wants to know who the man his mother loves is and sometimes secretly meets. Their meeting is revelatory.
CRITICAL OPINIONS
“Mircea Săucan has the rare gift of constantly making us delve deeper, beyond what appears at first glance; that is, he knows how to reveal the subconscious, the profound meaning of actions.” – Iulian Mihu – 1967 (Contemporanul).
A psychological drama featuring three intellectuals in a moment of inner crisis, where moral values such as originality and boldness, freedom of creation, and nonconformism are overwhelmed by the assumed defeat and conformity. – Bujor T. Râpeanu (“Filmed in Romania,” 2004, Ed. Fundației Pro)
When director Mircea Săucan proposed the film Meanders to the audience (this happened in September 1967), the breath of the critics stopped for a moment: we all felt that we were facing an extraordinary artistic achievement. Critics emphasized at the time that the film transcended its era; it was written that its cinematic language would only become accessible to broader categories of viewers in a decade, and furthermore, critics attempted to “implement” the cultural value of the film in public consciousness. However, the film was withdrawn from screens immediately after its premiere, held in a venue that was not part of the normal circuit of Bucharest cinema screenings (at the Casa Armatei), and was never rescheduled until the 1990s. Thus, a film creation of perennial aesthetic, philosophical, and moral relevance was buried alive, knowingly (collegial envy not being the least of the causes of this crime). Despite such treatment, Mircea Săucan’s film Meandre remains a masterpiece; the passing years have not at all disturbed the aesthetic and spiritual clarity of its “message.” – Călin Căliman
TRIVIA
- “Until 1981, the film had not been sold anywhere outside Romania, probably due to lack of approval for international distribution. After 1989, the film re-enters domestic distribution and is broadcast internationally, with historical analyses placing it as one of the most interesting works of Romanian cinema.” (Bujor T. Rîpeanu, “Filmed in Romania”)
- The film entered the collection of the French Cinematheque, led by the documentarian Jean Rouch.
- The film premiered at the Casa Armatei (a highly unusual venue) and was immediately withdrawn from circulation.
ARTICLES
- Poetical geometries: Meanders / Meandre – One of the most iconoclastic films made in Romania – saskiul.blogspot.com
- The dialectic of “meanders” – 1987 – Alice Mănoiu – aarc.ro
- Among the meanders of censorship: Meanders (1966) – Dan Romascanu – 2021 – filme-carti.ro
- Meanders, a film buried alive – Călin Căliman – istoriafilmuluiromanesc.ro
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.
