12:08 East of Bucharest (2006)

A local talk show host organizes an alcoholic professor and a pensioner known for playing Santa Claus to decide whether there was ever a revolution in their town Vaslui.

Director:

Corneliu Porumboiu

Writer:

Corneliu Porumboiu

Stars:

Mircea Andreescu, Teodor Corban, Ion Sapdaru

12 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mircea Andreescu	...	Emanoil Piscoci
Teodor Corban	...	Virgil Jderescu
Ion Sapdaru	...	Tiberiu Manescu
Mirela Cioaba	...	Doamna Manescu
Luminita Gheorghiu	...	Doamna Jderescu
Cristina Ciofu	...	Vali
Lucian Iftime	...	Lica
Annemarie Chertic	...	Vera
Petrica Sapdaru	...	Petrica
Catalin Paraschiv	...	Barman
George Guoqingyun	...	Chen
Constantin Dita	...	Tibi
Daniel Badale	...	Professor
Marius Rogojinski	...	Vecin (as Marius Rogojinschi)
Aurelia Tocu	...	Maricica Dima (voice)

Storyline

It's the 22nd of December. Sixteen years have passed since the revolution, and in a small town Christmas is about to come. Piscoci, an old retired man is preparing for another Christmas alone. Manescu, the history teacher, tries to keep up with his debts. Jderescu, the owner of a local television post, seems not to be so interested in the upcoming holidays. For him, the time to face history has come. Along with Manescu and Piscoci, he is trying to answer for himself a question which for 16 years has not had an answer: "Was it or wasn't it a revolution in their town?"

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Plot Keywords:

revolution | teacher | debt | question mark in title | question in title | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Romania

Language:

Romanian

Release Date:

29 September 2006 (Romania)

Also Known As:

12:08 East of Bucharest

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Budget:

€200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,586, 10 June 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$88,066, 26 August 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

42 Km Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When a woman and her daughter visit old man Piscoci and ask him to be Santa Claus, the boom mic bobs in and out of the frame at the top of the screen multiple times throughout the shot.

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Connections

Referenced in Siskel & Ebert: The Best of 2007 (2007)

User Reviews

If you know anything about Romania, you will enjoy this film

The viewer needs to understand that this is a Romanian film for Romanians. You'll catch all the inside jokes of the film if you've been there. The point of the film is that indeed the revolution was different for everyone . Even in late 1990 when I was there, the people were still scared of the Securitate, or secret police. Even during the one year anniversary of the revolution, it took courage to go and march, much less right after Ceausescu fled. The emphasis on 12;08, the reaction of the students when the teacher asked why they were so interested in the French Revolution, the interviewers emphasis on the time of the protests, and the accusatory views of the callers on the TV program, let alone the long shots of the bare dilapidated concrete buildings, all lend to the whole idea of the plot. Not only does one ask did the revolution occur in this one town, but did it occur at all? After all, Ceausescu's right hand people took over after he was gone. The people themselves ask if anything has changed.

The film can seem long and tedious to some viewers, but if you've lived in Romania, you get it.