The Unsaved (2013)

The Unsaved is a drama about about a Sancho Panza and not a Don Quijote. It's about the every day's non-hero facing circumstances and not adventures, it's about Viorel, a 25-year-old ... See full summary »

Director:

Igor Cobileanski

Writers:

Igor Cobileanski, Corneliu Porumboiu

Stars:

Igor Babiac, Sergiu Voloc, Ela Ionescu

3 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Igor Babiac	...	Viorel
Sergiu Voloc	...	Gasca
Ela Ionescu	...	Maria
Igor Caras-Romanov	...	Vivi
Angela Ciobanu	...	Mama
Alexei Machevnin	...	Alexei
Alexandr Chiciuc	...	Serghei
Ion Coseru	...	Bica
Victor Drumi	...	Fane
Denis Dimitriu	...	Adi
Valentin Turcan	...	Sandu
Petru Oistric	...	Buba
Grigore Sorici	...	Police Trainee
Boris Vieru	...	Cretu
Nicolae Darii	...	Doctor

Storyline

The Unsaved is a drama about about a Sancho Panza and not a Don Quijote. It's about the every day's non-hero facing circumstances and not adventures, it's about Viorel, a 25-year-old fledgling drug dealer, from a backwater little town in the contemporary Republic of Moldova. He lives at home with his mother, his ears get red when he's nervous and he lets his days pass in the usual "laissez-faire" Moldavian style. He gets involved through his best friend, Goose, in small-time drug dealing, while helping him to fly a hang glider that never seems to work properly; and he falls in love with Maria, the girl who happens to cut his hair. This easy-going existentialism precipitates several possibilities, which find our hero trapped in his own indecisiveness, so finally he reckons the moment has come for him to start growing up and act like an adult. The first thing he does is get a job peeling potatoes in the police canteen in order to make his mother proud. The second thing is to quit the ...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Moldova Romania

Language:

Romanian

Release Date:

1 July 2013 (Czech Republic)

Also Known As:

The Unsaved

Filming Locations:

Romania

Company Credits

Production Co:

Saga Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Moldova to the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 87th Academy Awards 2015.

User Reviews

Moldova between hope and despair

A decent effort by this first-time director who well deserved the FIPRESCI (international critics) prize that the film won at the Cottbus (Germany) festival in October 2013. This is a full-frontal presentation of the difficulties involved in growing up in one of the poorest countries in Europe, but one which avoids falling into the trap of misérabilisme. Cobileanski achieves a fine balance between hope and despair despite the film's downbeat ending, and the film's characters are depicted with a degree of sympathy that precludes caricature. The Unsaved does not seem to have had much of a commercial career to date (June 2014) but it deserves a wider audience, at least at festivals.