TITANIC WALTZ (1964) – comedy film online

Directed by: Paul Călinescu
Script: Paul Călinescu, Tudor Mușatescu (novel “Titanic Waltz”)
Cast: Grigore Vasiliu-Birlic, Silvia Fulda, Kity Ghoerghiu Mușatescu, Mitzura Arghezi, Lucian Dinu, Coca Andronescu, Liviu Bădescu
Producer: Nicolae Codrescu
Cinematography by: Ștefan Horvath
Edited by: Eugenia Gorovei
Sound: Victor Cantuniari
Music: Paul Urmuzescu
Year: 1964
Category: Feature film
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 90 minutes

265,259 – Cinepub viewers

PLOT SUMMARY

Spirache Necșulescu, a modest provincial clerk, leads a quiet life dominated by his wife’s political ambitions and his children’s future plans. Everything changes when he unexpectedly inherits a considerable fortune and becomes—against his will—a central figure in local electoral games. With disarming sincerity and wise naivety, Spirache strives to uphold his moral values in a world obsessed with public image, appearances, and… personal gain.

Titanic Waltz is not just a comedy of manners but also an ironic portrait of Romania’s interwar middle class, where caricature often turns into an honest mirror.

AWARDS

• 2015 – National Comedy Festival, Galați – Best Set Design Award (Helmuth Stürmer)
• 2014 – Fest(in) pe Bulevard – Silvia Dumitrescu-Timică Award for young talent (Nicoleta Lefter as Sarmisegetuza)

FESTIVALS

• 2015 – National Comedy Festival, Galați
• 2014 – Fest(in) pe Bulevard

CRITICAL REVIEWS:

“It’s easy to understand the public’s anticipation for Titanic Waltz. Director Paul Călinescu clearly strove to offer not just a faithful screen adaptation, but a true cinematic transposition of the play. The screenplay, restructured and adapted by Mușatescu and Călinescu, successfully rises to the challenge.” – I. Tudor, Viața Nouă newspaper, 1965

“Titanic Waltz is an example of an oral journal belonging to urban folklore. What makes it of literary interest is its encounter with Tudor Mușatescu’s comedy, whose title clearly indicates that it started from the waltz that became a leitmotif, through the melody repeated by anonymous banter from behind the scenes — although the shipwreck that determines the adventures and human background of the comedy is different: that of the ship Tracia, which left Constanța for Constantinople and sank in a storm ten miles from the Bosporus Strait. Thus, two elements of vitality meet, and we wonder, out of simple curiosity, which will last longer: that of the Titanic Waltz or that of the comedy Titanic Waltz? The Titanic Waltz seems to be older, perhaps even two decades older, and its life seems to be coming to an end. On the other hand, the Titanic Waltz comedy is still as popular as ever. The audience thus decides the race between the life of the comedy on stage and the unusual echo of the famous transatlantic tragedy. – Ovidiu Papadima, Steaua newspaper 1983

“Titanic Waltz has become a solid success, as George Călinescu called it, in Mușatescu’s literary creation, a thorough success of Romanian dramatic literature, with a stage destiny that only great masterpieces have had. The virtues of this play’s longevity are obvious: for 55 years (1932 was the year of its premiere at the National Theater in Bucharest, directed by Vasile Enescu), Titanic Waltz has been performed in Romania and beyond, in prestigious theaters and with renowned actors. In the monograph of performances of this play, […] covers chapters that support the enduring prestige of the comedy that definitively established Tudor Mușatescu, categorically demonstrating his dramatic mastery and the rigor with which the author conceives human types, avatars of the human soul.” – Valentin Marica (literary secretary of the Tîrgu-Mureș National Theater), Steaua Roșie newspaper, 1988

“And from a distance, a great quality of the show is Mușatescu’s refusal to update his press, to refer to everyday politics. This is because, as in many recent productions, what Alexandru Dajiba does here is an observational X-ray of the morals, this time, of the small provincial town within the interwar text. And, once again, he succeeds.” – Iulia Popovici, Observatorul Cultural, 2014

“The satirical comedy imagined by Mușatescu is still relevant today, because politicking, demagoguery, hypocrisy, and corruption at all levels are perfectly portrayed by the author. […] Why Titanic Waltz? Because wherever I heard Titanic Waltz and in whatever state of mind, I would think of myself, this song means Câmpulung, the province with its good, modest or ridiculous people, with its happy or sad events, with its public or family dramas and comedies.” – Raluca Tulbure, Azi Theater 2018

“I have always loved comedy. Titanic Waltz attracted me in a special way, but how many times have I said that? First of all, I wanted a contemporary subject. Unfortunately, there is too much talk about comedy, too much theorising and too little action. It is not enough to have a successful literary text at your disposal. I had to cut out some of the static parts of the play and resort to new situations and characters that would help to bring out the artistic ideas more clearly. I was very concerned with the rhythm of the cinematic composition, because I did not intend to energize the narrative solely through editing effects, spectacular cuts, or gratuitous suspense. Comedy requires discipline and precise organization of the episodes. Obviously, I could have chopped up the play, adding only a few specially written scenes, but I felt that I had to recast Mușatescu’s world of images in a new mould.” – Paul Călinescu, in an interview with the newspaper Cinema, 1964

TRIVIA:

• One of the myths surrounding the Titanic tragedy in 1912 tells of the orchestra playing a waltz to the very end. As a satirical analogy for a declining interwar society, Mușatescu borrowed this imagery for the play’s title.
• Originally a theater play, “Titanic Waltz” premiered on November 21, 1932, at the National Theater in Bucharest, starring George Calboreanu as Spirache. The film adaptation followed in 1964, directed by Paul Călinescu and co-written with Mușatescu.
• The play was inspired by Mușatescu’s earlier sketch “The Hat” (1928) and has since been staged widely across Romania and Europe.
• In an interview Tudor Mușatescu gave to the newspaper Metropolis, he stated: “I have been asked many times whether the characters in Titanic Waltz and the subject of the play actually existed or (have) any direct connection with real people and events. Yes, they did, and everything that happens in Titanic Waltz happened in real life, and even in Câmpulung.”

LINES:

• “If you want to give me a nice planet, give me one where I can be a clerk at city hall with a small salary and a large family.” – Spiridon (Spirache) Necșulescu (Grigore Vasiliu Birlic)
• “And you say it’s first class, because it’s been a long time since any of that fell… only the poor die! […] What can you do, orders are orders!”
• “God tells you to have children, but he doesn’t tell you how many. That’s up to the individual!” – Chirachița (Silvia Fulda)”Give me a tax break on overnight rooms. What the hell? It’s not like the state is going to go broke.” – Mayor of Câmpulung (Ion Finteșteanu)”Yes, but I’m a fairy who doesn’t want to remain unmarried because Prince Charming is shy and doesn’t dare to ask for my hand! […] Come to my parents and ask for my hand officially. I’ll give it to you right now, you mute.” – Sarmisegetuza Coca Andronescu)
• “Wasn’t it better when we were poor in our little courtyard? Of course it was better, because Gena was with us!” – Spiridon (Spirache) Necșulescu (Grigore Vasiliu Birlic)
• “Ehe, my dear, there’s nothing worse in this world than someone else’s luck!” – Chiriachița (Silvia Fulda)
• “Yes, but I have my dreams, my plans, my hopes. It’s a pity they don’t match yours. We would have been so happy. Family and peace in the home are the best things a person has on earth. If I upset you in order to achieve my goal, please forgive me.” – Spiridon (Spirache) Necșulescu (Grigore Vasiliu Birlic)

ARTICLES:

• Titanic Waltz – istoriafilmuluiromanesc.ro
• Titanic Waltz – oneworld.ro
• Titanic Waltz, the last work of one of the fathers of Romanian cinema – tvri.tvr.ro
• Grigore Vasiliu Birlic and… the death hat – e-theatrum.com
• Paul Călinescu – 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.

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