THE ACTRESS, THE DOLLARS AND THE TRANSYLVANIANS (1980) – comedy film online

Directed by: Mircea Veroiu
Script: Titus Popovici
Cast: Ilarion Ciobanu, Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan, Mircea Diaconu, Rodica Tapalagă, Mircea Albulescu, Tatiana Filip
Producer: Ion Grigore Ștefănescu, Radu Leșu
Cinematography by: Călin Ghibu
Edited by: Iolanda Mîntulescu, Mircea Ciocîltei
Sound: Tiberiu Borcoman
Music: Adrian Enescu
Year: 1980
Category: Feature film
Genre: Comedy, Western
Duration: 70 minutes

28,132 – Cinepub viewers

PLOT SUMMARY

Captivated by the charms of singer Anabelle, Traian Brad (Ilarion Ciobanu) wants to marry her, unaware that she is actually helping her accomplice rob a bank.

In a tone that is more serious than parodic compared to the other two episodes in the ” The Transylvanians” serie, the adventures of the three heroes continue, and Traian ends up teaching the Americans about democracy, naturally not in English, but in “Transylvanian”, to the amazement of the audience who saw this film during the years of communist Romania.

CRITICAL REVIEWS:

“Concentration is the hallmark of Ilarion Ciobanu’s talent. This time, it is a concentration in harmony with his gestures and lines. A concentration of concentration, so to speak, which the actor has given in a slightly different way each time, to each of his characters, including Traian the shepherd in “The Artist, the Dollars and the Transylvanians.” Not even the funniest situation can dilute the supersaturated meaning that the shepherd carries in his entire being, despite, despite the picturesque note. Ilarion Ciobanu has the rare gift of transforming the picturesque into truth and the joke into seriousness, into gravity, a massive, statuesque gravity…” – Eva Sîrbu, “Cinema” magazine, 1980

“A calm, cold, distant, elegant film with refined humor.” – Călin Căliman, “The History of Romanian Film (1897-2000)”

“Captivated by the charms of singer Anabelle, Traian wants to marry her, unaware that she is actually helping her accomplice rob a bank. In a tone that is more serious than parodic, Veroiu continues the adventures of the three heroes who have begun to speak English quite well, even though Traian teaches the Americans about democracy in Transylvanian dialect. The film has horses and cannon fire, as befits a true western, and even a final duel with swords, a genuine contribution to the development of the genre. It recorded 5,422,000 admissions. What times!…” – Tudor Caranfil

“The Artist, the Dollars and the Transylvanians (1980) is visibly marked by his [Mircea Veroiu’s] gentle spirit and accentuated plasticity.” – Mihnea Columbeanu

“The story written by Titus Popovici (the screenwriter of both films) depicts an original, interesting feat. And the theme of the series takes on special colors, especially due to the preponderance of the Transylvanian tone. A tone made up of good nature, wisdom, honesty, pride, dignity (harmoniously compatible with modesty and propriety).” – D.I. Suchianu, România literară magazine no. 8, February 21, 1980

“The film has rich character portrayals. In addition to the main cast (Ilarion Ciobanu, Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan, Mircea Diaconu), we have a first-rate “intelligent ensemble,” with outstanding stuntmen and curious characters, such as the young pianist who is permanently drunk, looking coy and innocent, but handling a pistol like a true cowboy (played by Ioana Crăciunescu). The mute character (played by Dan Nasta) is also interesting, an old man with a beard who never says a word, but who, when one of the Transylvanians is in danger, shoots with his revolver and takes out the enemy. Then he looks at the person he has saved and makes a wise face as if to say: “Well, well!” or “Of course!” – D.I. Suchianu, România literară magazine no. 8, February 21, 1980

“The atmosphere and color of Transylvania (with numerous shots in which the light seems palpable), the unusual framing and shots filmed with mathematical precision, the refined counterpoint of colors, and the sense of the ineffable are the result of the sensitivity of the directors of photography (Nicolae Mărgineanu, Călin Ghibu, Marian Stanciu, assisted by future operators Anghel Deca and Vlad Păunescu), set designer Aureliu Ionescu, and costume designer Doina Levinţa. They all succeed in giving expressiveness and realistic force to the sets and costumes, suggestively conceived by the two commissioning filmmakers (directors Piţa and Veroiu), whose high aesthetic standards are invariably set for the entire team of collaborators.” – Marian Rădulescu, agenda.liternet.ro

“The Transylvanians” serie is the path that Romanian cinema (pre-1990, as post-December cinema has other values and rules) did not take. It remains today an oasis of artistic intelligence, quality entertainment, and local know-how in commercial film that respects its audience. It could have been a starting point, but it remained an unmatched and unsurpassed peak—in the area of pre-1990 Romanian cinema, of course.” – Marian Rădulescu, agenda.liternet.ro

“This film did its job, it broke the Romanians who were bored by communism, and it can still be watched today, without any pain, just like you would watch a light Sunday series.” – Florentina Iana, vice.com

TRIVIA:

• The script was approved by the Romanian Filmmakers Association (ACIN) and then by the Socialist Culture and Education Council, which gave its consent on December 28, 1978.
• The film entered production on January 3, 1979, under the title The Return of the Transylvanians.
• Weapons, harnesses, and props were rented from studios in the GDR and Bulgaria.
• Mircea Veroiu was appointed director of this film, the first in the series having been directed by Dan Pița.
• Set designer Nicolae Drăgan completed 50% of the sketches and construction of the sets, then left for abroad, with his assistant Nicolae Șchiopu taking over work on the film. The result was a “handsome and rich little town”, in which the characters wear picturesque costumes designed by Hortensia Georgescu.
• Filming took place between May 3 and June 30, 1979 (36 days of filming), in Buftea and the Cernavodă area.
• Sergiu Celac (Nicolae Ceaușescu’s English translator and future foreign minister), Adrian Săhleanu, and Alexandru Brumaru were used as English language advisors. The American English voices of some actors were dubbed in post-synchronization.
• The three films in the Ardelenii series were shot in Cheile Zărneștiului, Cheile Râșnoavei, and Munții Măcinului, as the landscapes there were considered to “truly inspire the Wild West”.
• The roles and lines were written specifically for the actors, and screenwriter Titus Popovici captured each character’s distinctive humor very well after the first film and exploited it.
• The soundtrack for the series ” The Transylvanians” was composed by Adrian Enescu for synthesizer, and the American Country sound blends with the popular Transylvanian melos, with themes such as Mocioriţa or Alfa (Vangelis). The songs are performed by the group 5T and Mircea Romcescu.
• Production costs amounted to 3,652,000 lei.
• For actress Tania Filip, who was only 16 at the time and a 10th-grade student at a music school, the film marked her cinematic debut. Mircea Diaconu noticed her in the halls of the Bulandra Theater and, knowing that a blonde actress with blue eyes was being sought for the role of June, he asked her to come with him to the sets in Buftea to introduce her to director Dan Pița. Ten days later, Tania Filip was called to the set in Brașov.
• In an issue of Cinema magazine, actor Ilarion Ciobanu says about his character, Traian Brad: “He’s still kind-hearted and remains the big brother, kissing them and smacking the other two. In the second series, he’s obviously more knowledgeable, he knows what kind of world he’s in, he’s gotten over the shock of first contact. He has learned the customs, some of them too quickly and too well… He has started to speak a few words of American, but he says them his own way… Otherwise, he fights and rides horses, because a western without horses and fights is like a wedding without musicians.”

LINES:

• “What’s your name, red brother?” – Ion Pascu (Colonel Wilkinson)
• “They’re not Injuns!” – Protestant pastor (Iosif Naghiu)
• “Bob is black.” – Bob (Ahmed Gabbany)
• “Bob, close the door.” – Traian Brad (Ilarion Ciobanu)
• “Dear Bob, I say we go to the theater too. I’ve been there before when I was in Vienna.” – Traian Brad (Ilarion Ciobanu)
• “Look at her! She’s like an angel!” – Traian Brad (Ilarion Ciobanu)
• “I’m Green. Ambrose Green.” – Ambrose Green (Előd Kiss)
• “What can a Falcon do once the coyotes are squelling?” – Black Falcon (Traian Petruț)
• “It’s the end of the world. Come and see what you haven’t seen!” – Romi (Mircea Diaconu)
• “No one cries on command, unless they have a hidden pain in their soul.” – Traian Brad (Ilarion Ciobanu)
• “Our Indian brother stays with us.” – Johnny (Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan)
• “If you say another word, I’ll knock your teeth out.” – Traian Brad (Ilarion Ciobanu)
• “Master! Pay attention, if he’s not inclined, slap him a few times! That’s the only way to learn the craft.” – Traian Brad (Ilarion Ciobanu)

ARTICLES:

• The second “Romanian western” – aarc.ro
• Film Klub “The Artist, the Dollars, and the Transylvanians” (1980), directed by Mircea Veroiu – icr.ro
• A Romanian western with humor and action like in the movies – tvr.ro
• The Transylvanian series: The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians; The Child, the Oil and the Transylvanians; The Artist, the Dollars and the Transylvanians – agenda.liternet.ro
• Balanced euphoria and artistic gravity – The Transylvanian serie – agenda.liternet.ro
• What I learned about Romanians from a communist western – vice.com

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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