A Clod of Clay

to the lives of two great Romanian writers. to the atmosphere of XIX century. and one of the most seductive performances of Dorel Vișan. like many biographic movies by Nicolae Mărgineanu, a puzzle. not always inspired but coherent. for the art to suggest. for the force of Vișan to create a memorable portrait of Ion Creangă. for the difficulty of Adrian Pintea to escape from the popular image of Eminescu, using clichés for be right choice for expectation of public. blended nuances and words in water color portraits. small stories. and the absence of courage to impose more than conventional solutions.a beautiful film. but nothing more. Dorel Vișan as locomotive of good intention project. and slices from past in the perfect light. short - window to a lost age.

a movie for soul. two friends both great names of Romanian culture. few beautiful images. a love story. lot of clichés. warm of atmosphere. suffering ribs. and lost of Paradise. a walk in legendary Ia;i and meeting with a Eminescu in skin of ordinary recipes and charming Creang[. Maria Ploae as an ethereal Veronica Micle and presence , like Creanga student, of very young Marius Manole. a nostalgic film, picture of emotions crumbs, important as Proust madlene for national sensitivity, delicate slice of self definition, game of small nuances, open of a time, close for propaganda pressure. a refuge. as many other movies from that period. in same time, a love declaration. to heroes of Romanian deep identity. for creators of language and way to discover Romania more than a fairy tale or an accident.

I wanted to see the years when all these things happened, to put things in perspective, to frame the movie in history. I wanted to hear the name of the places they show.

And I really wanted to hear some great verses from Eminescu's superb poetry and even fragments from his writings. Same for Creanga's tales which are wonderful even today after 130 years though the local aspects of the language he uses are a bit difficult indeed.

Mihai (Michael) Eminescu had such a rich life, yet little is presented in the movie. Ion (John) Creanga's life is presented better.

Plus, the title is not inspired. It tells nothing to the audience.

The actors were great, I really liked them a lot, they really gave life to the historical characters. But the script, the atmosphere, the scenes - everything was too abstract for me. A linear time style approach would have been way better: the year they met, the historical events at that time, the political aspects of Romania as an emerging country.

But I remain in my heart with a few powerful scenes.

PS: Cats were so sweet. I didn't know Creanga liked cats and had so many cats (15 at one point in the movie). Cats make life sweeter indeed.