THE FRESHMEN’S WINTER (1977) – comedy film online

Directed by: Mircea Moldovan
Script by: Petre Sălcudeanu
Cast: Draga Olteanu-Matei, Marin Moraru, Constantin Diplan, Carmen Galin, Sebastian Papaiani, Nae Gh. Mazilu, Emil Hossu, Virgil Ogășanu, Florina Cercel, Vasile Nițulescu, Haralambie Polizu, Paul Lavric, Monica Ghiuță, Ileana Iurciuc, Constantin Bîrliba, Mircea Cosma, Octavian Cotescu, Medeea Marinescu
Producer: Mihai Năstase, Beno Meirovici
Cinematography by: Ion Marinescu
Edited by: Adina Georgescu-Obrocea
Sound: Bujor Suru
Music: Paul Urmuzescu
Year: 1977
Category: Feature film
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 93 minutes

220,313 – Cinepub viewers

PLOT SUMMARY

A strange phenomenon is taking place in the village of Viişoara: the men have disappeared! Unable to bear the “tyranny” of Varvara, who runs the agricultural cooperative, they preferred to get jobs in a factory, but things aren’t going according to plan there either…

CRITICAL REVIEWS:

“Following the autumn of the same ”freshmen” in the picturesque village of Viișoara, with the change of season. The intellectualism of the socialist village is reinforced by the mysterious appearance of the Greek teacher Praxiteea. Silvia fears she will remain an old maid due to staff turnover, the fierce Varvara, president of the Agricultural Cooperative, is concerned with stopping the male exodus to the factory, convincing its director to build greenhouses, and Toderaș, in opposition, disagrees with the agricultural policy of his “other half”. The “freshmen” continue to wreak havoc in their ambition to advance the socialist village, and the actors extract comic flashes from dry stone. The real novelty is brought by the pastel landscapes of rural winter, captured by the gaze of Ion Marinescu, whose image always aims at depths and wide spaces. When spring arrives, however, along with the snow, the magic disappears”. – Tudor Caranfil, “Dictionary of Romanian Films” (ed. Litera Internațional, Bucharest, 2003)

“I don’t want to upset Mircea Moldovan, who found the right tone, naturalness, and appealing verve in his first comedy, or Ion Marinescu, the cinematographer who has contributed something valuable to the film’s imagery. But here, their effort to find the realistic-spiritual key appropriate to the genre is no longer felt; that fresh and relaxed atmosphere that gives the feeling of life and not of technical-agricultural inventory disappears completely. The sense of atmosphere disappears, that coming and going of village life that had impressed us in the previous film.” – Alice Mănoiu, “Cinema” magazine no. 10, October 1977, aarc.ro

“Repeating only his witty line: “and what handsome men we were, Toderaş, especially me”, Vlad Niţulescu awakens our nostalgia: “where are they, shepherd, the autumns of yesteryear?” – Alice Mănoiu, Cinema magazine no. 10, October 1977, aarc.ro

“A village is left without men. The head of the household, being a bit of a weakling, is left at home. The mayor, who is rather fond of spirits, spends his time and land at the bar. The doctor, who is rather fond of women, unleashes an inflation of medical certificates. The good boys leave for the factory, and the women, led by the new president, run the show. So here we have a world that is not at all marginal, and here we have a stake that is anything but tiny. From this point of view, Petre Sălcudeanu and Mircea Moldovan are in the good company of D.R. Popescu and Geo Saizescu, all of whom are part of the family of good practitioners of prophylactic laughter”. – Ecaterina Oproiu, România liberă magazine, October 15, 1977, aarc.ro

“Less than ‘Autumn…’, ‘Winter…’ still contains a dose of spontaneity and originality, especially in the dialogue, but the comedy clearly suffers from a certain rigidity of form, of canon. The characters flow into very precisely drawn molds, but this excessive precision undermines the surprise, creating the impression that the artistic solvent fails to melt the political essay. Hence, a series of solutions that are far too facile for the authors in question. Hence a permanent slide towards idyllism, an idyllism that is often “politicised” with humour. – Ecaterina Oproiu, România liberă magazine, 15 October 1977, aarc.ro

In “Filmul surd în România mută” (Silent Film in Mute Romania), journalist and film critic Cristian Tudor Popescu considers “‘The Freshmen’s Winter” to be a political and propagandistic film of the communist era], made at the political behest of the state leadership. Thus, at the end of the 1970s, young college graduates began to be assigned to rural areas, denied jobs in large cities, following a decree by the president of the country. As a result, it became necessary to make films that would instill in young graduates the idea that life in the countryside is beautiful and professionally rewarding.

“Speaking of propaganda, ‘Winter…’ aims to bring to the table several social and political issues that were hot topics in those years. The film critically discusses the dysfunctional relationship between village authorities and those ‘above’, at the county or central level, where decisions are made that, on the ground, have results that do not match the plan on paper, a recurring theme throughout the trilogy.” – Adrian Ionescu, cinepub.ro

“In one of the emblematic scenes, that of the screening of the film made by Praxiteea, the focus is on the actions of a drunk villager, to the delight of the audience in the film, which is reminiscent of the moralizing reports specific to the “Reflector” program, a program designed to show “deviations from socialist norms” and reaffirm the official values of the regime. Through such practices of institutionalized public shaming, Ceaușescu’s media discourse transformed the negative example into an instrument of collective conformity, using shame as a tool of social control.” – Adrian Ionescu, cinepub.ro

TRIVIA:

• Unlike the previous film, The Freshmen’s Winter contains several name inconsistencies: the mayor was called Horațiu in the first film and Iustinian in the second, the carpenter Niculae is called Simion in this film, and the tractor driver Marmoloș becomes Tiberiu Popa. The role of engineer Geo Severus, played in the first film by Dumitru Furdui, was taken over by Constantin Diplan.
• The credits were animated by Florica Vintilă.
• The film entered production on November 22, 1976, with the initial title “Men’s Winter”. It was made in the studios of the Bucharest Film Production Center. Filming lasted 35 days and took place between January 31 and April 8, 1977, in the village of Purcăreni in Brașov County.
• The standard copy was finalized on June 30, 1977. Production costs amounted to 2,632,000 lei.
• The film was a huge success with the public, being seen by 3,163,456 viewers in Romanian cinemas, according to a report on the number of viewers recorded by Romanian films from the date of the premiere until December 31, 2007, compiled by the National Center for Cinematography.

LINES:

• “Where are the men?” – Varvara (Draga Olteanu-Matei)
• “Give me an aspirin, Paulina, my brain hurts.” – Varvara (Draga Olteanu-Matei)
• “I’m going to remain an old maid because of staff turnover.” – Silvia (Monica Ghiuță)
• “If you’re going to be a woman, at least be a woman to the end!” – Varvara (Draga Olteanu-Matei)
• “You’re suffering from stupidity, that’s why you’re suffering.” – Varvara (Draga Olteanu-Matei)
• “She, my wife, to show the village that I was an incompetent president?” – Toderaș (Marin Moraru)
• “A modern man, my dear, must be quick and efficient.” – Geo (Constantin Diplan)
• “Toderaș is as beautiful as the night.” – Varvara (Draga Olteanu-Matei)
• “(The doctor) can’t tell the difference between a pregnant woman and one wearing a pleated skirt.” – Varvara (Draga Olteanu-Matei)
• “A house without a woman is like a barn with only one ox. It can’t pull the yoke and it dies of boredom.” – Shepherd Traian (Vasile Nițulescu)
• “(The mayor) is having a meeting at the buffet because beer has been brought in.” – Student Nelu (Cristea Cozariuc)
• “It’s forbidden. Anyone who reads it will be fined.” – Mayor Iustinian (Paul Lavric)
• “My spleen hurts because of Varvara.” – Toderaș (Marin Moraru)
• “This brandy is a bit strong.” – Toderaș (Marin Moraru)
• “I am free. He went to the factory. And you don’t even know how many women there are there!” – Paulina (Ileana Iurciuc)
• “You suffer from boils… no, from ovarian cancer.” – Doctor Ovidiu (Emil Hossu)
• “Our official data shows that you receive fees in kind, which you capitalize on.” – Pompei (Sebastian Papaiani)
• “Slow down and work faster, because night is falling.” – Toderaș (Marin Moraru)
• “You could have taken off your wedding clothes, comrade engineer.” – Toderaș (Marin Moraru)
• “They say that if a drunk man could see himself drunk through the eyes of a sober man, many things would change in the world of revelers.” – Narrator (Octavian Cotescu)

ARTICLES:

• The Freshmen’s Winter – film review, by Alice Mănoiu – aarc.ro
• The Freshmen’s Winter – film review, by Ecaterina Oproiu – aarc.ro
• The Freshmen’s Winter – tvr.ro
• Romanian theater and films: The “Freshmen” series (1975, 1977, 1985) – agerpres.ro
• The Freshmen’s Autumn (1975) – cinepub.ro
• The Freshmen’s Spring (1985) – cinepub.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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