- Runtime
- 1h 40m
- Release Date
- 6 December 2026
- Genres
- Drama
- Classification description
- TBC
- Directed by
- Lucian Pintilie
- Starring
- George Mihăiță, Vladimir Găitan, George Constantin, Emil Botta
- Synopsis
A new restoration of the Romanian classic. After a drunken brawl, two young men, Vuică (George Mihăiță) and Nicu (Vladimir Găitan), are forced by the prosecutor (George Constantin) to re-enact the fight on camera for an educational film about the dangers of alcohol. The shoot descends into absurdity and humiliation. Based on Horia Pătrașcu’s novel, drawn from real events, and largely shot as a mockumentary, Pintilie’s tragicomedy of incompetence, indifference and abuse of power is a landmark of Romanian cinema.
Lucian Pintilie (1933–2018) was a towering figure of Romanian film and theatre and a key inspiration for the Romanian New Wave. After Reconstruction and the banning of his 1972 stage production of Gogol’s The Government Inspector, he worked largely in theatre and opera abroad, returning to make The Oak (1992, Cannes Competition), An Unforgettable Summer (1994) and Niki and Flo (2003).
Preceded by an introduction by Corneliu Porumboiu
Official Selection – Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival 1970
Voted the greatest Romanian film of all time in a 2008 poll of Romanian film critics