Directed by Lucian Pintilie • 1968 • Romania

Voted the greatest Romanian film of all time, Lucian Pintilie’s heady blend of political theatre and uproarious slapstick remains hugely influential to this day. George Mihăiţă and Vladimir Găitan play two students arrested following a drunken brawl at a sleepy provincial bar. Rather than lock them up, the local prosecutor (George Constantin) forces the pair to re-enact the incident for an educational film about the perils of alcoholism. As performance and reality begin to blur, agents of the regime and onlooking civilians alike start to question the unseen authorities that govern their lives. Based on a novel by Horia Pătraşcu and inspired by real events, Reconstruction established Pintilie as communist Romania’s leading director, even as state censors forced him out of the country.

RECONSTRUCTION • RECONSTITUIREA
Written and directed by Lucian Pintilie
From the novel by Horia Pătraşcu
Cinematography by Sergiu Huzum
Starring: George Constantin, Emil Botta, George Mihăiţă

In Romanian with English subtitles