Espía/Maestro

Fictional in a sense, but also inspired by the true events about Ion Mihai Pacepa, the Securitate general from the very top entourage of the (former president of Romania for some, for others the dictator) Nicolae Ceausescu who defected to the U. S. For a few a hero, a traitor for others, from a time when Romania used to be a player on the world stage. The characters and the institution involved in the plot, the KGB, STASI, the Arab terrorists, CIA, BND, and Romanian Securitatate from the '70s gives the story some historical and political weight. The series follows Pacepa's book "The Red Horizons" published in 1988, a year before Ceausescu was killed.

I stumbled across this series quite by accident and have watched the first two episodes only, but the fact that I bothered to watch the second ep is testament itself to the quality on show, I have no idea what some reviewers expect from a cold war eastern bloc spy drama, lots of super hero's in costumes perhaps or sweary lippy Americans being the best at everything! Who knows, but if you like your spy drama at a sedate pace full of intrigue and suspense then this show should be on your list to watch. The lead actor does a great job as do most of the supporting cast and I genuinely look forward to episode 3 and see where the story takes me!

I managed to see the first episode at a preview event in Bucharest and even managed to ask a few questions to the producers and screenwriter. Please keep in mind that this review covers only the first episode.

First of all, this is a nice step forward for Romanian television. Not only is it a show with a decent budget, not cobbled together by asking a bunch of yogurt companies and supermarket chains for financing, but the production value is only one of the aspects where it's evident that a lot of care was taken. The series has broader appeal by having a broad European/American setting with actors speaking English and German in addition to Romanian (viewers who are not comfortable with subtitles won't be completely left out)

The story doesn't take huge risks, but it works within the formula very well. There's no pretension here, it is what it advertises, a John Le Carre-like spy thriller with a snappy pace (helped by the non-linear structure that the producers and screenwriter fought to keep) and a clear end goal.

This show is directed in Romania, Germany and Hungary, and there were two completely different teams involved, so you will notice doubles in roles which are usually singular, such as DOP, costume designer, production etc. The only time I saw something similar was Cloud Atlas, although that movie had three directors, while this show pulled the feat with only one.

The acting is fine, a notch above usual Romanian HBO productions, and miles ahead the porn level of acting you can see on Romanian cable tv dramas. Claudiu Bleont in particular is doing a biopic-style transformation into Ceausescu, a much appreciated departure from his days of starring in Seagal movies. The actress that plays his wife, Elena, was present for the Q&A, so it was interesting to hear that they had some level of "method acting" going on, without chewing the scenery.

There is little digital trickery involved in recreating the 70s Eastern Europe and US (the producer said that they used about 70 vfx shots per episode if I remember correctly), but they were quite clever in location scouting and production design, so rest assured, the end result is convincing and won't pull you out.

All in all, the first episode is a great pitch for the show, so give it a change if you are interested in a spy thriller that takes place behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, from an Eastern perspective, one which you won't get by watching a show made in the West.

The true story of Pacepa is much more impressive. I don t understand why the director had to add a lot of non-sense when the trues story is much more impressive. I could say that other than that is a nice high budget small series to watch. The soundtrack is really good and some actors play good. But my good.. how anyone with a ID card can enter anywhere in the US embassy in Germany is truly out of this world. The costums, the cars, the decor, the collors are really awsome. I could add that there is no info about what happend afterwords. And this is very important. Pacepa give to USA not only all the agents of Romania but agents from the comunist block. This was a huge hit to the comunist world. Hundreds being arested. Only about this you could make a movie.

Fantastic cast, Great delivery and a good portail of the hystoric period. The whole story keep you on your toes. The romanian cast does a great job and so do the american actors. Rythm is good, exposition is organic and the different scenes are blended really well. All in all every aspect really make this a great one to watch.

I don't usually leave reviews but i had to share on this one. Usually romanian films are vulgar and full of forced low brow humor, but this tv show is exactly as it should be and really made me enjoy every minute of it. I can't wait to see the rest of the episodes and see the story unfold.