12:08 East of Bucharest (2006)

The last 40 minutes of 12:08 East of Bucharest are among the funniest and most painful moments on film I've seen in some time. Two men and the anchorman, Jdrescu, sit in a row in a drab TV studio. Just the way they sit, uncomfortably rubbing elbows, has a deeply comical streak. The program is supposed to look into the question of whether their home town did have a revolution - or not. Was there any uprising on the main piazza before 12:08 1989 (the moment Ceausescu flew off in an helicopter)? Or did everyone see the fall of Ceausescu on TV, heading out to express their opinions only afterwards? The TV show becomes an excruciating catastrophy, starting with the anchorman's totally nonsensical blabbering about Plato's cave and Heraclitus. A world-weary teacher who is known as a drinker seems to be making up stories about his own heroic past - but that is up to you to decide. His friend, who we know as the guy who dresses up as Santa Claus for children - mutters inaudible things to himself, fiddling with a piece of paper (but who, later on, delivers a moving account of the particular day of interest). People call the show to announce that the teacher is a damned liar. There was no revolution, they say, the square was empty.

Porumboiu's film represents a full-blown type of movie-making. He pays attention to everything, it seems. Colors, sounds - and, most striking of all, the angle of the frames. Most of the scenes put the viewer in a weird place. Either we look at the protagonists from a doorway, through a windshield or we see them from far away. And then I haven't yet mentioned the intentionally clumsy shooting during the last 40 minutes. Brilliant. These effects are employed ingeniously.

What becomes evident in the film is at least that "was there ever a revolution?" signals that there is no agreement as to the kind of change brought about by the end of the Ceausescu regime (who are to count as political revolutionaries, who just sort of tagged along with the flow) - what did it mean for different parts of the country, for different people, groups of society? The film makes the point in several ways but never in a tiresome way. It's very well made, and has depth both in terms of content and style.

Plus: the closing scene is absolutely stunning. Stunning!