Closer to the Moon (2014)

A Romanian police officer teams up with a small crew of old friends from the World War II Jewish Resistance to pull off a heist by convincing everyone at the scene of the crime that they are only filming a movie.

Director:

Nae Caranfil

Writer:

Nae Caranfil

Stars:

Vera Farmiga, Mark Strong, Harry Lloyd

9 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vera Farmiga	...	Alice
Mark Strong	...	Max
Harry Lloyd	...	Virgil
Anton Lesser	...	Holban
Joe Armstrong	...	Razvan
Christian McKay	...	Iorgu
Tim Plester	...	Dumi
Darrell D'Silva	...	Minister
David de Keyser	...	Moritz
Frances Cuka	...	Sarah
Marcin Walewski	...	Mirel
Allan Corduner	...	Flaviu
Monica Barladeanu	...	Sonia (as Monica Birladeanu)
Paul Jesson	...	Studio Manager
John Henshaw	...	Judge

Storyline

Bucharest 1959. A spectacular Bank heist has the country in an uproar. In post-war Communist Romania it is an unimaginable slap in the face to the iron fisted authorities. Four men and a woman are arrested, tried, convicted and while waiting for their execution... are forced to star in a propaganda film about the crime. All five protagonists were heroes of the resistance during the Second World War and highly placed members of Romanian society. They clearly knew they would be caught and executed.

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Plot Keywords:

romanian | police officer | year 1959 | bucharest romania | post world war two | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Nae Caranfil on the historical background and his research: "...usually I don't do very much research. I rely on my imagination but this time, I tried to get every bit of information I could. The best thing I did, in a way, was to get hold of some Israeli Romanian language magazines published in Tel Aviv where they made a whole file over three or four editions of the events with people that were remembering things in very different ways. So, I got very different angles on this story and then, aside from the documentary film [Great Communist Bank Robbery (2004)] made by Alexandru Solomon, I saw another documentary film [Reconstruction (2002)] of which nobody knew in Romania, made by the woman's granddaughter [Irene Lusztig]. She's living in New York and she came to Bucharest in 1999 and made a documentary about her grandmother." [2014]

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Quotes

Title Card: During World War II, the anti-Nazi resistance in Romania was mainly organized by the Communist Party.
Title Card: A number of young Jews joined the cause, believing their freedom would come from the Soviet Union.
Title Card: The Red Army didn't free, but enslaved the country, along with the whole Eastern and Central Europe. An iron-fist regime was installed.
Title Card: Former Jewish partisans became part of the governing elite.
Title Card: Their positions started to erode until, by the last years of the 50's, they were being systematically ...
[...]

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Connections

References Philanthropy (2002)

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Soundtracks

It's Magic
Music by Sammy Cahn
Lyrics by Jule Styne
Performed by Loredana Groza

User Reviews

A group of Romanian communists robs the National Bank. But why?

Unless you have at least some basic knowledge about Communist Romania, this movie might seem very far away from a rating of 10. As the story unraveled, it sucked us into an atmosphere that most of us feel is long gone, and nevertheless, so close to us. It's the period when the first cracks in an apparently perfect egalitarian world started to appear. Robbing a bank with guns in a communist country is like robbing a supermarket of its toilette paper. Money then and there was useless unless you could justify its origin. And that is what makes this story so strange for us. But there are many, many other layers to the story. The cast is great. The historical background is fascinating (at least for us, Romanians). And the cinematography is far above average. This movie was like a breath of fresh air. One full of poisonous gases, as seeing the movie, you will discover that there are many things about the human race that will upset you, but at the same time, air that provokes an uncontrollable laugh. Some people in the audience didn't appreciate the jokes. I did, because I considered it was the only way not to make the most depressing movie in the world. A masterpiece that will most probably be considered as such many years from now, when people will start making movies about our not so egalitarian society.

Details

Country:

Romania USA Italy Poland France

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Closer to the Moon

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Budget:

EUR4,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agresywna Banda, Denis Friedman Productions, Mandragora Movies

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1