ROMANIAN NEW CINEMA: REPRESENTING NATIONAL IDENTITIES IN A GLOBAL WORLD
ROMANIAN NEW CINEMA: REPRESENTING NATIONAL IDENTITIES IN A GLOBAL WORLD

Summary/Abstract: Since 1995, Romanian cinema has become one of the most visible and discussed phenomena in international film festivals and cinema journals. This phenomenon can be seen as a reaction to the nationalist, populist, and patriotic cinema: instead of focusing on the nationalist image of a glorious Romania (like in the communist era) they often focus on the dysfunctional or antagonistic relationship of Romania with the rest of world. This paper shows that many post-1990 movies depict the relationship between Romania and the world as a failed “graft”, Romanian society and the Romanians playing the role of a “foreign body” rejected by the others. If communist movies represented the West as a source of danger and death, one can find similar representations in the New Wave films, but for totally different reasons. In movies like Nae Caranfil’s Asphalt Tango, in Mircea Daneliuc’s The Snails’ Senator, in Cristian Mungiu’s Occident, or Beyond the Hills, the failed graft of Romania into the Western World is symbolically represented by comic idiosyncrasies but also infection, sickness, tragedy, and even death.

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