This movie is ugly and wrong. It is decadent, sex-obsessed, cynical, nihilist, and against spreading the spirituality to the masses.It is clearly against communists, and Russians (really pathetic though). This hate message theme is politically correct these days. You can make a decent living by swearing to your previous bosses and be pampered by the new ones... As a side joke, it is good that the Chinese communists were not present in Romania, because these intellectual mercenaries would show them as rapists too… I suggest watching "Buletin de Bucuresti" a movie made during the communist regime. You can make a comparison between that comedy and this trash. And keep in mind that old movie contained also propaganda, but anyway it seems to me more honest and real.The main characters are shown making love in the open field in the middle of summer, only a few days before the tragical events occur. By the way guys, you should have known it, you pretend to describe historical events, that Stalin died on 5th of March, a date when it is barely the end of winter in Romania...Intelligent guys are currently in charge with lowering the standard and expectation of the masses. Congrats Lustig and Malaele! This movie is not a mistake, this movie is simply wrong at its roots and intentions.

An incredible tragicomedy, which brings tears into one's eyes, both of laughter and grief.The film appeals to the whole set of emotions a person can feel. It embraces the Romanian spirit into its smallest details and its deepest inherent leitmotifs, from the town's mute to the town's whore, from the typical Romanian town saloon to the typical Romanian wedding. Sudden transitions from funny situations to tragic ones and back to comical throughout the film give you a roller-coaster sensation. And all this is 'garnished' with apparitions of death represented as a bride, inserted in the most discreet way possible. These apparitions are the only clue that you receive about the ending. And you don't need more.All I can say is this film made me proud of Romanian cinematography.

I fully agree with the brave reviewers who warned that this movie is indeed a waste of time. (I really wonder if the good reviews were written by the director's relatives, or if they watched another film.) At any rate I do not think this is in any way worthwhile because it is like a shallow home-movie, with a screenplay written by drunk men at a bar like the one shown in the film. The film is full of vulgarity and crudity, full of obscenities that seem to be meant to be funny... I thought it was base and boorish. The plot takes too long to become interesting, that is, in case it ever does, I stopped watching at some point. It was just too gross and an insult to intelligence. There are many good eastern European films out there, but this is definitely one to avoid.Many of those who praised the film in this website mentioned that people who don't come from Romania cannot grasp it. I watched it with a person born there and he hated it. I think the movie is just plain junk. The fact that it is supposed to criticize communism is just an ideological excuse to make the film sound deeper than it really is. As to the commentator who tried to sound convincing about the evils of communism citing that Romanians who fought on the Eastern front "saw" how bad communism was during the war -- I must point out, that these "Romanians fighting on the Eastern front" were fighting together with the Nazis against the Soviet Union in WWII, perpetrating horrible crimes against humanity, and are NOT a "source" I would consider trustworthy.

Despite the favorable comments left here by other users, I think that watching this film was a total waste of time. About 45 minutes pass by before the main story even begins. Thus way too much time is wasted introducing the audience to every single character. The film jumps from genre to genre without bothering to resolve every storyline it begins. At one point you may expect this to develop into a crime story, but you can only guess who the perpetrator was. The next moment the film seems to turn into a horror story but after only two scenes that storyline ends without being resolved properly. The key scene may lead you to believe that this film was intended to be a comedy. The actors had to mime everything during that part. But sometimes you can almost "see" the director telling everyone to look right / left / up or down - the whole thing is not exactly acting at its best. The comedy part ends and drama kicks in. Obviously the film makers couldn't make up their mind! The basic story line might have been turned into an interesting film, but unfortunately this chance was wasted.