Tales from the Golden Age
Amintiri din epoca de aur
France, Romania
2009
155 Min
Color
1.85:1
Romanian
Synopsis
Tales from the Golden Age is an unconventional personal history of the late communist period in Romania, told through its urban myths from the perspective of ordinary people. Comic, bizarre, surprising, these myths drew on the often surreal events of everyday life under the communist regime. Humor is what kept Romanians alive, and Tales from the Golden Age aims to re-capture that mood, portraying the survival of a nation having to face every day the twisted logic of a dictatorship.
Tales from the Golden Age is composed of five short stories – connected by mood, narrative pattern and the details of the historical period: the only car you can see on the streets is the locally produced Dacia, everybody survives by stealing from the state, party orders must be obeyed no matter how illogical or absurd. The people appear grim yet deep inside they are alive, they desire to love and to beloved. —Cannes Film Festival
Director
Cristian Mungiu
Cristian Mungiu (b. 1968, Iaşi) is a Romanian filmmaker, winner of the Palme d’Or in 2007.
After studying English literature at the University of Iaşi, he worked for a few years as a teacher and as a journalist. After that, he enrolled at the University of Film in Bucharest to study film directing. After graduating in 1998, Mungiu made several short films. In 2002, he debuted with his first feature film, Occident. Occident enjoyed critical success, winning prizes in several film festivals and being featured in Director’s Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2007 Mungiu wrote and directed his second feature, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The film was received enthusiastically, attracting critical praise and being selected in the official competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, where it eventually won the coveted Palme d’Or for feature film, marking the first time that prize was awarded to a Romanian filmmaker.
Mungiu has said that early Miloš Forman… read more
Constantin Popescu
Constantin Popescu wrote and directed his first short film, The Apartment, in 2004. It was selected in 15+ festivals and won several awards, including the “Gran Premio della Giuria” at Venice International Short Film Festival Circuito Off. Since then his following short films – A Lineman’s Cabin (2006), Water (2007), The Yellow Smiley Face (2008) – have participated and won at film festivals worldwide. In 2009, he directed the segment Omnibus for Christian Mungiu’s Tales from the Golden Age.
Portrait of the Fighter As A Young Man is his first feature film, which was selected as part of the Official Selection at the Berlinale Forum 2010. —Festival Scope
Ioana Uricaru
Ioana Uricaru, MFA, is a PhD candidate at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. Ioana was raised and born in Romania, where she lived through her country’s totalitarian regime, the anti-dictatorship popular uprising and the daunting socio-economical transition that followed. She relocated to Los Angeles upon admission to the MFA in Film and Television Production program at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. In 2004 she was also admitted to the School’s PhD program in Critical Studies. Ioana’s goal is to become a college professor and to continue to make films without making compromises. —huffingtonpost.com
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João Biscaia
23Sep12
Every now and then comes a film that makes you be glad motion picture was invented. This is one of them. A pastiche of mesmerizing anecdotes which tell you there's a bright story even in the darkest tales of poverty, censorship or repression. Bravo!
diana
23Jun11
the validity of the stories is not at all certain, but that is because the Romanian cinematography has been promoting strong, realistic perspectives since... well, since Ceausescu died. so everything seemed quite believable. I appreciate Mungiu's work but only as a 'collector'. as long as he's not directing, I belong to the very happy audience.
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By Twitchfilm.net on July 16, 2010
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A seamlessly blended portmanteau comedy which confirms all our prejudices...
By Mutt on March 22, 2010
Romanian film-maker Cristian Mungiu (“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” & “Occident”) enlists fellow directors Hanno Höfer, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru, Razvan Marculescu for this quirky little… read review
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