The Cardinal

-Plot: In the 1950s, a group of Greek-Catholic leaders is imprisoned at Sighet (Romania) and asked to convert to Eastern-Orthodoxy. -Good, complex script by Bogdan Toma, the right mixture of history and fiction. -A broad collection of wooden languages: the communists', the Securitatea's, the prison leaders', the soldiers', the Greek-Catholic clergy's, the Vatican envoy's, etc. Furthermore, the language used by Episcope Hossu (masterfully played by Radu Botar) changes from 1918 to 1950 to 1976. -What am I ready to give up for a just cause? Not easy to answer. I guess ... time. -Well edited. There is a scene in the prison hallway where after all have left the camera lingers by an interior gate for a few seconds, not too many, not too few, just enough to convey the loneliness and the despair. -Body pain goes down while praying. Including someone else's pain. -When I was a teenager, I had a secret "screen crush" on Maria Ploae. After decades, I found her as beautiful and as good of an actress as ever. -Nicolae Margineanu directed an impressive movie, a work of art. -Let's go to the movies!