The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)

The film explores the image of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu using unknown official footage from the Romanian National Television and National Film Archives.

Director:

Andrei Ujica

Writer:

Andrei Ujica

Stars:

Nicolae Ceausescu, Elena Ceausescu, Stefan Andrei

9 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Nicolae Ceausescu	...	Himself (archive footage)
Elena Ceausescu	...	Herself (archive footage)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stefan Andrei	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gheorghe Apostol	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ana Aslan	...	Herself (archive footage)
Ion Avram	...	Himself (archive footage)
Iosif Banc	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eugen Barbu	...	Himself (archive footage)
Elena Barbulescu	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lica Barbulescu	...	Herself (archive footage)
Alexandru Barladeanu	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ion Birlea	...	Himself (archive footage)
Emil Bobu	...	Himself (archive footage)
Emil Bodnaras	...	Himself (archive footage)
Leonid Brezhnev	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

During the summary trial that he and his wife were submitted to, Nicolae Ceausescu is reviewing his long reign in power: 1965-1989. From a formal point of view, The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu proves that it is possible to only use existing images to yield films focused on recent history, yet with an epic vein similar to that of the historical fiction cinema. This is an eminently syntactic endeavor, where montage plays a twofold part: mise-en-scene, as it builds scenes that do not exist as such in the rushes, and classical editing, connecting scenes together.

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Plot Keywords:

romanian politics | romanian revolution | failed state | communism | socialism | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Romania Germany

Language:

Romanian English

Release Date:

9 September 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,644, 11 September 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$31,396, 4 March 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

ICON production, Centrul National al Cinematografiei (CNC), Societatea Româna de Televiziune

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

best 3 hours of history

this are the best 3 hours of Romanian communist history, a period of nearly 42 years in video, things that you will never find in history books.I find it objective and a real help to understand that era. For those who are not Romanians or interested by the subject , it might be boring, dull or whatever, but again , nobody can't force you to watch it for 180 min, but for me it was a real help on making an image of the years before i was born and the 7 years after that i lived in communism. Glad someone had the courage to do it, too bad its not as promoted as it should among Romanians especially.The title is an irony, because the dictator never had an autobiography or even the chance to see the movie,it presents the debut of communism in Romania and very soon the debut of Ceausescu in the history if the country. We can't judge actions or reactions of the character but we can pretty easily make and opinion about him, especially by listening all his speeches during the movie, where you can have a certain feeling of nationalism surrounding his position towards Romania. As a dictator , he follows the line of all the dictators in the world, living his life in pure luxury while his people struggles to exist, especially in the last years of his "kingdom".Facing the riot of an entire country his faith is sealed, but his death is not people's decision. So before seeing the movie, don't think as if it's an action movie, it's just a history lesson, and if you are not into history, you will never really have the chance to appreciate the quality of this movie. From me it has a 10.