DVD La bani, la cap, la oase

Romanian cinematography has long been suffering from the art illness. It's done a lot of "arty" movies, abounding in displays of the problems confronting the Romanian society. Crime, drugs, alcohol, prostitution, immigration, politics, post-communism syndrome – conventional wisdom says that the deeper you expose the problem and apply the scalpel, the higher the chances of making it at the film festivals as the only possible outlet for these films. Whilst some of these films pleased the critics and a narrow audience, the wider Romanian public was left wanting and had to make do with the Hollywood films offering genuine entertainment, a couple of hours after which you don't feel depressed and question yourself about the essence of human nature but just say "wow, I feel refreshed, I've really enjoyed this film!".

"La bani, la cap, la oase" (English title "Monies, cons and bones") bridges that gap. It is a film where the villains are bad and get their comeuppance, the heroes are likable and get the money and the girl at the end. The result is a frank, straightforward movie which genuinely entertains. I haven't laughed so heartily since the old classics with BD or Nea Marin Miliardar.

There is a breath of English cinematics in this fast-paced action comedy, but it's done Balkans style. It's spoken in a colourful Romanian language (alas, you can't pick that up through the translation). It mixes local characters with Moldovans (towards which Romania has always been ambivalent), Russians (the arch-villain by any local standard, of course) and Albanians (that no one really cares about, anyway).

A film I can thoroughly recommend as worth watching. Critics may not be fully on board, but this is for the normal movie goer who just wants to have a good time.