Change and Evolution in Romanian Cinema

Abstract

After 1989 Revolution, the documentary film in Romanian cinema received a great interest from the cinema audiences and the film world. The tendency of film production based on the materials before and after transition roused many people’s response through the realism, and since then, this tendency makes young movie directors take a special interest in film production based on realism like a trend. The chains of film productions and their results like Puiu, Porumboiu, Mungiu etc. reverberated and were all successful in the international film festivals. Romanian cinema ensured its success, because these young film directors did not produce films around melodrama, science fiction or genre films which imitate Hollywood movies, but based on historical events in Romania or various subjects of contemporary life. Like recent topics of the film world, Romanian cinema for the last 10 years was developed under two directions such are the production of Auteurism films and commercial movies. The former is the Auteurism film grafted by neo-realism, minimalism, impressionist film etc. which refers to the young generation of film directors named the ‘New Wave’. Therefore, the Romanian cinema at border become, at a bound, a rising power nation in the film world. The latter is often called the experimental film which raises various inner possibilities behind pure nature of film and art for art’s sake. The rapid progress of Romanian cinema as a ‘New Wave on the Black Sea’ or ‘Romanian New Wave’ which raises sensational interest up in the global film from the mid 2000s, is an amazing progressive result and, at the same time, a hopeful progressive present as ever. We can find this success of Romanian cinema in the common denominators, made by young film directors, like a pursuit of truth and realism, themes inspired in the past and the present, hand-held and long-take shooting, realization on the Romanian own style, refusal of archaism and spectacular film and so on.