If the numbers mentioned by wikipedia are accurate then 'Postcards with wildflowers' (the Romanian title is 'Ilustrate cu flori de câmp'), the 1975 film by director Andrei Blaier, was seen in cinema halls by 2.1 million viewers. Today, I believe that even Hollywood productions in pandemic-free periods fail to reach even one-tenth of that figure in Romania. How can we explain this formidable audience success? The film addresses, discretely and from an official perspective, a very controversial issue - that of clandestine abortions resulting from the demographic policy of the communist regime that forbade and criminalised abortions. From a historical perspective, it can be said that 'Postcards with wildflowers' precedes '4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days' made in 2007 by Cristian Mungiu, of course from a very different point of view and cinematic style. However, it was not only the theme but also the presence in the cast of several first-rank actors, the contribution of an excellent technical team, and of course, the name of the director Andrei Blaier that contributed to its success. How does the film survive the 45 years after its making?
The story takes place in a town on the shores of the Danube. The opening scene of the film is a frame of everyday life seen through binoculars of a sailor on a ship. The cinematography director Dinu Tãnase creates a 'limited vision' effect, as if warning the viewers that what they will see is a constrained and limited version of reality. In one of the following scenes, two young women meet in a train station. Laura (Carmen Galin) comes from Bucharest, Irina (Elena Albu) is waiting for her with a bouquet of flowers. Other flowers come down from the train, it's a funeral wreath. The film begins with flowers and death. We shall soon find out that Laura came to town to have a clandestine abortion, a deed severely punished by law. Irina's mother is an accomplice. The word 'abortion' is never uttered however, the characters use double-speak, they are afraid, all their actions take place under the pressure of fear. A wedding is taking place in parallel. A wedding with hopeful young brides, with corrupt and ridiculous older participants, with loud and vulgar music. New lives begin, others are cut short.
The story sounds better than it looks on the screen today, more than 45 years after the film was made. In order to overcome the barriers of censorship, screenwriter and director Andrei Blaier was forced to insert in the film a clear ideological message on the line of the official anti-abortion policy of the period, and also to thicken the negative characters to the point of ridicule. And yet, interpretations like those of Draga Olteanu Matei, Eliza Petrachescu or Gheorghe Dinica catch our attention and give human dimensions to their characters who live in an environment and a period of social and political pressure. The solidarity of the two young women played by the beautiful and talented Carmen Galin and Elena Albu predicts the friendship of the two heroines in Mungiu's film made three decades later. The conflict between the generations is accentuated by the presentation of the provincial sub-culture, which provides colour and authenticity and partially balances some of the exaggerated melodrama that accompanies the propagandistic message. Dan Nutu and George Mihaita complete the cast with the portraits of two young men belonging to a generation that tries to detach itself from the mediocrity and corruption around it, but whose attempt, at least in the film, fails tragically. Of course, Blaier could not go all the way to point the finger at the responsibility of the system, but the lack of chances and alternatives of the heroes is striking. The film has many cinematic qualities, I have already mentioned the cinematography, I would add the music of Radu Serban, a popular composer of the period, but not everything crosses the screen and the test of time. 'Postcards with wildflowers' is an exemplary product of a period in which the ideological line imposed in Romanian cinema required the creation of films that reflected 'the present' but did not give the film-makers the freedom to mirror the truth.
