Nunta muta

Allegory for the Soviet conquest in Romania. A conquest of minds not only of soil.

8/10

The easiest way to tell if a movie is good or bad is to look at the comments and see how many people really understand the message; for this movie very few people did, which confirms the fact that we are indeed dealing with a very artistic and highly complex film. It was painful to read all the garbage written by some reviewers before me, and it appears very clearly that they understand very little the spirit of the 1950s as it was superbly encapsulated by this film. A lesson of history and less brainwash by contemporary politically correctness will certainly help understand this movie properly. It is not about a wedding, it is not about a village wiped out, or about communists, it is about historical destiny and humanity. Those who have seen beyond the comedy understand what I mean by that. The rest of you should really stick to shallow movies, because anything beyond that will confuse you unnecessarily.

A small town. A happy young couple about to be wed. A tight community ready to celebrate this happy event. All is well. Until a number of militant communists enter the town to declare a period of national mourning after the death of the party leader. After that the wedding party is forbidden and the community searches for a way to have it go on anyway. The solution is as dared as inventive as fun: the feast will go on but everything, including the music, will be in mime.

And so starts one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time - the lives of the people, the loving community and the vividly happy pair are all somewhat pressured by the need to be silent, but are all still there oh so very clearly. As events roll on it is clear that the fun will not last forever, but it is as good as it can be while it is there.

And there it is: a tragicomedy about the right event, at the wrong time, all wrapped in a long back flash which in my eyes is only added to the film to lengthen it a bit. It could have been somewhat better if that part had not been there and the actual wedding party had been done longer. But it's still a great film and it adds a good warmth to the heart.

9 out of 10 silenced laughters

This is maybe the best movie I have seen. It made me get an IMDb account to rate it 10 stars. I don't care about technical judgments about this movie. It's a Romanian emotional roller-coaster which pictures our recent history in a tragical and comical frame. It's one of the few movies I have ever watched at the cinema where at the end of which lots of people applauded. Romanians are recognizing themselves in the story and they find coherence in their identity and this makes the movie a masterpiece and a great service to the people of this country.

One more thing that I appreciate in this movie is a reparation done within the history of the subjective experience. People from the village were at best ignoring communists and poking fun of them if they were not hating them. Nobody was happy to give away their land and village men knew what communism can bring, since they saw it with their own eyes when they fought on the Eastern front.

Most people hated communism and they tried to live a normal life in silence, just like it happens in the movie. Humor was maybe the best survival resource.

I live in Romania and I know from personal experience and thorough study what Russians did bring under the name of communism. I don't try to convince anyone that the so called communism was criminal and implemented locally with the help of the weakest links (like in the movie), low educated people with low morals, since there is enough literature today for anyone that has any doubt. Of course, as somebody mentions here, Romanians too did their horrible crimes on the Eastern front, but this does not mean that what the people like the ones in the movie endured, did any kind of humane justice. The people that fought on the Eastern front are a good source, since they were regular soldiers, not vicious criminals and even if they were vicious criminals, they could anyway still have seen the "benefits" that "communism" has brought to Russia.

I understand why some people consider it propagandistic, but in my view this is a good artistical work upon the subjective experience and life of ordinary Romanians in 1953.

For me this movie was of a great impact. I left the cinema and have not been able to say a word for more than 15 minutes. I was fascinated. It gave me a deep, profound feeling of genuine art, with incredible complex features gathered together in these 90 minutes of displayed images. A lot of meaning - I am sure for non-Romanians has not the same amount of meaning - and an authentic way of touching the most sensitive parts of the Romanian people, with humor on the most critical aspects of the most absurd time, the communist time of Romania. Malaiele is a great artist, but this film is his masterpiece. I highly recommend you to watch this movie. It is not just a movie, it is a lifetime experience.