A doua cadere a Constantinopolului

maybe an experiment. one of the first comedies after the fall of Romanian Communism. a good director and a grotesque movie. because it has not direction. it is only vulgar, chaotic and kitsch. great actors in poor roles. mixture of Orient and West influences, clichés and a profound unrealistic script. only an experiment. without purpose, without good sense, without a target. because the acting is only metaphor, the script - something without taste, the actors - pieces from a boring game. lights and nudity - that is the essence of entire show. a poor film. from a great director who , after few real remarkable movies , creates a freaky expression of freedom in cinema.

a big mistake. this is the only word defining this fake film in the career of Mircea Mureșan. sure, many explanations are useful for be merciful about this crap. but something defines it not as accident or experiment but as proof of normality. because, after 1989 year, the Romanian cinema has only two directions- to explore sensuality - and the script is just a pretext or to exorcise the memories about recent past in films exploring the dark sides of Romanian contemporary history. sure, each of them is looking for identity. but "A doua cădere a Constantinopolului" remains a real bad film. and this is its only reasonable thing to say about it.

Four years after the fall of communism Romanian cinema seemed to have lost all sense of direction. Hesitating between violent communist regime-inspired dramas and western-style (or rather what they imagined to be western-style) comedies Romanian movie makers were experimenting. This is the first Romanian movie in which I've seen a naked woman. Unbelivebly poor direction, acting and photography. It's a shame an exceptional comedian like Dem Radulescu got involved into this project. But the worst surprise is the direction, as director Mircea Muresan is the author of the more than decent "Ion: The Lust for the Land, the Lust for Love" and of the excellent "Toate pînzele sus (Full Sail)" TV series. Toate pînzele sus was a must for any boy that grew up in the '70 and '80.