The Rage

It is a movie about love, violence, illegal affairs and romanian tycoons. A romanian story combined with an occidental adaptation resulting in a modern international film that can be understood both by western audiences but as well by eastern European audiences.

The main characters do represent indeed a generation, even though I did not identify with them. I wouldn’t call them a “generation of sacrifice” as some did, because all generations in Romania have a claim to that qualifier, with the exception perhaps of those who lived in the interbellic decades (and even for them, those who had it best spent their retirement in prisons, in exile, or in a fetid basement overtaken by anxiety). There is a dark reality of Romanian life, strikingly apparent in the movie, a reality which cannot be denied through PR exercises: there’s an appalling lack of horizons and opportunities for the young generation. It’s no surprise then that most young Romanians, including our heroes, see immigration as the only way out, as the only hope, but few have the means to take this route.

Yet, despite the gloomy circumstances, the director/writer is able to present an involving, fast paced storyline. The premise is very credible and the actors lively and candid in their interpretation. Some scenes emerge from the uniform desperation as uniquely funny, but we don’t even have time to catch our breath and realise it, as we are too involved (the movie was rated as Action/Comedy, but it’s more of an Action/Drama in my view).

Perhaps the frequent comparisons to other cinema schools are rooted in the lack of awareness about movies from this part of the world. Is it not possible, then, that this movie, like several others before it (The Oak, Filantropica, Occident), is indicative of an increasingly assertive, independent, mature yet still largely unknown Romanian school of cinema? —IMDb