tlespagnol

This film will probably not be remembered in 10 years but it does not matter as it's not meant to be a 7th art masterpiece. The plot is simple but interesting, based on two facts: - the difficulty for French farmers to find spouses willing to settle in a farm; - the difficulty for young Romanians to get a decent job in their own country;

A market-oriented solution would be to bring together the offer and the demand. And it's exactly what the dating company is doing. The problem is that human beings, unlike goods, have feelings: - it's hard for a French farmer to understand a girl from Romania; - it's hard for a Romanian girl to leave her country and her past behind.

It's a nice reminder to those criticizing immigrants that it's always a last-resort and heart-breaking solution to move away from home in search for better conditions.

Two great actors: Michel Blanc and Medeea Constantinescu.

Last but not least, life in Romania is far from being as dull as the film pretends.

This film, known as "Satra" - a group of wandering gypsies - to the Romanians is definitely worth viewing. Based on a short novel by Gorki, it gives a snapshot of Gypsy life in the Far-Eastern part of the Habsburg Empire. Nevertheless, the film is a bit diminished by its 1970s-Soviet origin: many badly played-back songs, a soundtrack that tends to give a hippy-70s flavors to the Gypsy songs. I'm not so enthusiastic about the work of the composer who rather spoiled the Gypsy music than improved it. In this domain, Goran Bregovici keeps the lead. The RUSCICO DVD edition includes some interesting bonus though not very enlightening. Notice that the script was refused by the Moldovan Film Studios so that it was shot by the Moscow film studios.

The film has been awarded a Prize in the "Un certain regard" category during the 2005 Cannes Festival. It is indeed a certain look at the Romanian contemporary society that Cristi Puiu proposes here. It would made an excellent documentary on the current and depressing state of the the Romanian medical system and medical staff psyche. Having lived in Romania, long enough I can assure you, the movie really sticks to the reality. Acting is excellent. Just two complaints from my behalf. The topic is depressing enough and Romania's image abroad bad enough not to overemphasize it by the dim and dull lightning of the scenes. Two hours and a half might be a bit challenging for the audience, even in Romania (I've seen Romanian viewers walking out of the theater). Two hours would have been enough to get the message and the feel of it.