SICK ANIMALS (1970) – drama film online

Directed by: Nicolae Breban
Script by: Nicolae Breban
Cast: Dan Nuțu, Ion Caramitru, Mircea Albulescu, Vasile Nițulescu, Ion Dichiseanu, Ion Besoiu, Emilia Dobrin, Dan Mastacan
Producer: The “Bucharest” film studio
Cinematography by: Aurel Kostrakiewicz
Edited by: Margareta Anescu
Sound: Andrei Papp
Music: Tiberiu Olah
Year: 1971
Category: Feature film
Genre: Drama
Duration: 94 minutes

39,539 – Cinepub viewers

PLOT SUMMARY

The murder of two workers and a high school student triggers a series of investigations, the conclusions of which are eagerly awaited. After several attempts, a sergeant manages to catch the killer.

PLOT SUMMARY

• 1971 – Cannes Film Festival

CRITICAL REVIEWS:

“The narrative thread of the film is almost linear: from the perspective of the most innocent of the characters, Paul (Dan Nuțu), who approaches and distances himself from the turmoil of dramatic events, a pseudo-police intrigue takes shape. A crime, then a second, then a third, in a quiet town with no history of crime, set in motion an entire investigation apparatus which, after wasting its energy on several false leads, discovers not only the murderer but, more importantly in a film like this, the ‘reasons’ for the crime.” – Călin Căliman, istoriafilmuluiromanesc.ro

The detective plot is merely a pretext for what the film intends to say, and does say. Screenwriter and director Nicolae Breban attempts a cinema of analysis. The pawns of the conflict, vividly drawn characters, propose small moral universes, which the author analyzes carefully and meticulously, through the prism of sometimes contradictory facets, reflected in the ambiguous conscience of a hypersensitive and introverted teenager.” – Călin Căliman, istoriafilmuluiromanesc.ro

“With the appearance of a detective film — the investigation of crimes that seem to have the same perpetrator — a psychiatric exploration of characters in a state of moral crisis to the point of pathology unfolds; the perpetrator of the crimes turns out to be a fanatical follower of a religious sect.” – Bujor T. Rîpeanu, “Filmed in Romania,” 2005, Ed. Pro Foundation

“The cinematic debut of writer Nicolae Breban as director of the film Sick Animals (screenplay and direction) seems to mark, in the opinion of many, a special moment in the evolution of our cinema. The invocation in connection with this film of the experience of Godard, Skolimovski, Bellocchio, Resnais, and Robbe-Grillet, the observations of colleagues who discover in this work ‘the first auteur film in the history of Romanian cinema’, ‘an attempt to renew the language of cinema’, the highlighting by a chronicler with the experience of our senior, — the master Suchianu, — of a sequence “unique in the history of cinema” (the killing of Arion) and of the most beautiful cinematic image he has ever seen in his entire life (the ending of the film), made us look somewhat differently at the serious reservations we have about this film.” – Bujor T. Rîpeanu, “Astra” magazine, June 1971, aarc.ro

“Arion, played by Mircea Albulescu, is a character who embodies a belief, a philosophy of existence. The sequence of his death (…) is one of the most tense moments in Nicolae Breban’s film.” – Eva Havaş, Cinema magazine, no. 2, February 1971

“At first glance, “Sick Animals” sounds like a really interesting movie. It’s the only film directed by Nicolae Breban and is based on his own 1968 novel, “Sick Animals”, which was really well received. The film’s subject matter and themes were super hot at the time. It was set among the quasi-lumpenproletariat and misfits on the margins of socialist society. It dealt with forms of popular and at the same time eccentric religiosity—disconnected from the Orthodox Church: self-appointed preachers, etc. It presented as common knowledge the fact that the militia was prone to abuse. It offered both a detective story (a series of murders in a small mountain town) and a Dostoevskian debate of ideas.” – Andrei Gorzo, cinepub.ro

“It shouldn’t be considered a classic, but in a more cinephile culture than ours, it would at least be a cult film for some.” – Andrei Gorzo, cinepub.ro

TRIVIA:

• The screenplay is an adaptation of the novel “Animale bolnave” (Sick Animals), written by Nicolae Breban himself.
• Breban viewed cinema as a limiting experience, different from literature, describing the making of the film as an intense personal adventure, marked by creative tensions and ideological constraints. (adevarul.ro)
• Although appreciated artistically, the film had a difficult journey in a cultural context dominated by censorship, being perceived as an uncomfortable endeavor due to its themes and uncompromising approach. (adevarul.ro)
• The cinematic experience did not divert Breban from literature, but confirmed his belief that the novel remains his space of absolute freedom, with film being an accepted but limited stage. (adevarul.ro)
• The film was seen by 629,926 viewers in Romanian cinemas, according to a report on the number of viewers recorded by Romanian films from the date of release until December 31, 2014, compiled by the National Center for Cinematography.
• Nicolae Breban (born February 1, 1934, Baia Mare) is one of the most important post-war Romanian writers—novelist, essayist, poet, and publicist, author of over 50 volumes published in Romania and abroad. Coming from a family with strong cultural and religious roots in Maramureș, Breban’s youth was marked by political persecution and social instability after the Vienna Dictate and the banning of the Greek Catholic Church.
• Exmatriculat și împiedicat să urmeze un parcurs universitar clasic din cauza „originii sociale nesănătoase”, Nicolae Breban se formează ca autodidact, asumând lectura și cultura liberă drept principale surse de educație. În anii ’50 frecventează cercurile literare bucureștene și se afirmă ca parte esențială a generației ’60, alături de Nichita Stănescu, Matei Călinescu, Cezar Baltag și Grigore Hagiu, contribuind decisiv la depășirea realismului socialist și la reafirmarea criteriului estetic.
• Debutează literar în 1957, iar în anii următori publică constant proză scurtă în principalele reviste literare ale epocii. Romanul său de debut editorial, Francisca, este distins cu Premiul „Ion Creangă” al Academiei Române și confirmă un autor de prim-plan al literaturii române contemporane.
• Filmul „Printre colinele verzi” se înscrie în universul său artistic marcat de interesul pentru psihologia personajelor, conflictele morale și tensiunile dintre individ și istorie.

LINES:

 • “I am an orphan. I was adopted by an aunt who lives in Timișoara. (…) I only came back here to look for work.” – Paul (Dan Nuțu)
• “Lies don’t fill your stomach.” – Voștinariu (Ion Dichiseanu)
• “I have no memory. (…) I could say that I’m proud of that.” – Paul (Dan Nuțu)
• “I want to ask you if you don’t feel guilty.” – Arion (Mircea Albulescu)
• “It’s a shame to lock up an innocent man.” – Arion (Mircea Albulescu)
• “You should know that not everyone who wears this uniform is like me. Some are brutal and cruel.” – Ion Caramitru (Mateiaș)
• “A man with your views becomes, first and foremost, suspicious. And that’s only because they think in stereotypes. That is, they don’t think. And that’s not because they’re lazy, but because they’re afraid to think.”
• “If it’s about the death of that man I knew and loved, I can’t help you at all.” – Arion (Mircea Albulescu)
• “I was born old, and consequently, I must move accordingly.” – Paul (Dan Nuțu)
• “Being dignified is something that demands respect. Dignified and a little distracted.” – Paul (Dan Nuțu)
• “It’s not good for anyone to look at you suspiciously in this day and age.” – Paul (Dan Nuțu)

ARTICLES:

• Sick Animals (1971) – istoriafilmuluiromanesc.ro
• Review: “Sick Animals” by Bujor T. Rîpeanu, in Astra magazine, June 1971 – aarc.ro
• Review: “Sick Animals (a different kind of film review)” – aarc.ro
• Review: “An atypical directorial debut: Nicolae Breban,” by Călin Călinam – istoriafilmuluiromanesc.ro
• “Behind the scenes of cinema.” Writer Nicolae Breban became a director to adapt his own novel for the screen – adevarul.ro
• Nicolae Breban – acad.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.

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