User reviews

Director's Cristian Nemescu life was cut off so early, and all consistent work that is left is the unfinished 'California Dreaming' and this mid-sized film which is probably his best. As other colleagues from the new generation of Romanian directors Nemescu was inspired by the period of wild transition that Romania went through after the fall of the Communist rule, a period in which democracy and opportunities freedom brought were shadowed for the majority of the Romanian citizens by economic uncertainty, moral decay and the emergence of a new generation with little relations to the past and without the guidance of any tradition or help from the broken souls generation of their parents.

Marilena is a prostitute in a Romanian city today who lives a harsh life of servitude where her hopes are relegated to the hopeless love to the wrong guy. She is loved in secret by a teenager who goes through the pains of coming of age, but the coming of age seems to be not only only his personal one but also the one of the whole society around. Yet in this harsh environment sentiments exist, and here Nemescu is inspired of a whole tradition of Romanian literature and film which found in slums and the world of criminals and prostitutes a human universe worth to be explored. That these feelings end in tragedy says something about the times the characters live in.

The film legacy of Nemescu can unfortunately be counted in screen minutes. What is left is only making us painfully miss the great director that he could have become.

after the first 20 minutes of the movie, my reaction was "...it's not 'really' like that..." . and that, although very often I pass by similar places, similar people ; similar tragedies happen a few hundred km away from my home... and I never paid attention, not really...

and then, as the movie ended, and the credits were rolling, it changed into "...in fact...it CAN be like that. it actually IS like that, for some people..."

thank you, Catalin Nemescu. for making me see the reality as it really is. without any make-up.

wherever you are now,thank you.

After 1989 sadly the Romanian Cinema took a fall in my opinion , but I would recommend this short flick Marilena de la P7 for its brutal reality I have found this one very, very disturbing and I am not easily moved. It was a sad remembrance if you will because I have Lived/borne on 1989 lol in that exact part of the city were the action take place and it shocked me to see how painfully real it felt it connected deeply withme as almost I would have lived there again and see/go through daily some of the events depicted in this short flick Marilena de la P7 To be honest I will admit when I saw this it was the first time I cried as an adult full grown male. Lol glad I saw it alone :))

I will give it 9 out of 10 just because I wish it would have been a 2 hours movie :)) .

You can find it You tube with ENG SUBS if you want to Check it out and don't speak RO. Just copy Paste the name (I guess I am not allowed to put the link directly but its easy to find )

This is one of the most amazing films I have ever seen.

I saw it in Milan in September 2006 and it became one of these very rare moments where I felt an electric force with the people sitting next to me in the theatre.

We all sat glued to the screen as the story unfolded and I realised I was watching something very very special.

The script is superb, the performances are amazingly natural, the hand-held camera is flawless and the editing is super-slick.

All things considered, this film effectively blew my mind.

The fact that it is 45 minutes long may not suit traditional time slots.

But this film is as long as it needs to be.

I hope you are as lucky as me and get to see it.

Considering its length, Marilena could well be thought of as a little masterpiece. The reason: it naturally captures the essence of life in a Bucharest ghetto: a gypsy Elvis impersonator (who sings Love me Tender in gypsy), the dirty facades of the projects built in the Ceausescu era and forgotten in that dilapidated state, and the people who inhabit them all remind one of a nightmarish atmosphere no one would even want to come close to. Nemescu's gift is in rendering that atmosphere not only accessible to anyone, but even attractive and interesting. Got a great reception at Cannes this year, and if it ever finds a distributor I am sure it will get a similar one in the States.

I'm not easily moved by films and i kinda know our situation as a country and what goes on in here but this one is a very sad mini-film!It does not have the length of a normal film but still i think those 45 minutes were enough to tell this amazing little story about reality and about a lot of other things that will leave you speechless...I'm really impressed by this and i think it's one of the saddest things i have ever seen!I hope that Romanian movies will keep the up the good work that has been done in the last few years...On that note i urge to go and see this movie because in my opinion this is a little masterpiece.

Projection of sour tenderness with scent of innocence, glimpse of naive love in a pit of human misery, as it was never expected from Romania.

It shows us plain Romanian reality, but with a distinct sensibility to detail and care for true emotion.

The chosen actors had indeed a natural performance and were physically suitable for the environment in question.M.Ghitescu was a special surprise as she has that kind of subtle beauty.

The ending is a pleasantly painful one, that remarkably validates human's fear of loneliness.

Very valuable minutes.

We thank you so,C.Nemescu.