12:08 East of Bucharest
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Synopsis
16 years after the Revolution and just days before Christmas, a local television station in Bucharest has invited several guests to share their moments of glory, as they allegedly stormed city hall, chanting “down with Ceasescu!,” before Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife, fled the presidential palace by helicopter so many years ago. An alcoholic history teacher and a lonely retiree, who moonlights as Santa, are forced to answer questions from dubious viewers who aren’t overly convinced that the Revolution ever took place in their city.
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
In Romanian, with English subtitles
Romania, 2006
89 minutes. NR
Reviews
The buoyant little comedy 12:08 East of Bucharest puts its finger on the problem in the best tradition of East European humor, savvy but concrete, gentle but sharp as a knife. |
[12:08 East of Bucharest] builds a sly and unexpected human comedy out of a dispute over whether a revolution would still be a revolution if nobody showed up. | Though it is modest, almost anecdotal, in scale, 12:08 East of Bucharest is also characterized by a precise and sneaky formal wit. |
The buoyant little comedy 12:08 East of Bucharest puts its finger on the problem in the best tradition of East European humor, savvy but concrete, gentle but sharp as a knife. |
[12:08 East of Bucharest] builds a sly and unexpected human comedy out of a dispute over whether a revolution would still be a revolution if nobody showed up. |
Though it is modest, almost anecdotal, in scale, 12:08 East of Bucharest is also characterized by a precise and sneaky formal wit. |