Cinema
The Independence of Romania
Independența României
Grigore Brezeanu · 1912
Synopsis
In 1877, a village is celebrating while in Bucharest mobilisation against the Ottoman Empire is decided. The film follows the declaration of war and the departure of the troops, then the battles of Grivița and Plevna and the field hospitals; it mixes with documented facts two figures drawn from the poems of Vasile Alecsandri, Peneș and Rodica, whose love serves as a fictional thread. Carol I and his entourage appear in it, but, according to Ana Ribeiro, battles and diplomatic dealings matter more in it than the characters.
Context
The film was presented in September 1912 at the Eforie cinema in Bucharest, on the 1st or the 2nd depending on the sources, and stayed on the bill there for a month according to Evenimentul zilei. Leon Popescu, owner of the Lyric Theatre, financed it and bought out the share of the other backers. The roles are played by actors from the National Theatre, including Constantin Nottara and Aurel Athanasescu; Aristide Demetriade plays Carol I. The latter's directing notebooks, found in 1985 by Tudor Caranfil, lead him to be regarded as the director; the Transilvania festival and Ana Ribeiro credit both men. The film, eighty-two minutes long, was screened at the Barbican in London in 2013.
Who it is for
A silent film of about an hour and twenty minutes, which combines the reconstruction of the battles with a love story.
Prizes and reception
For Ana Ribeiro, it could be mistaken for a documentary; it remains an interesting experience for today's viewer.
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