12:08 East Of Bucharest
The film is divided into two distinct halves. First, we are introduced to the three central characters on a typical morning. There is a TV host, trying to book guests for his cheap talkshow; later, he pretentiously introduces the show with quotations from ancient philosophers. Then a henpecked history teacher, who drinks too much and owes everyone money. Finally, a lonely old man, who is busy buying a Father Christmas costume so he can entertain school-children. The teacher and pensioner will be the only guests on the TV host's talkshow.
The second half is taken up entirely with the talkshow, and is filmed by the TV studio's camera. The show's topic is: was there a revolution in Vaslui, or not? Anti-Communist demonstrations led to Romania's self-appointed leader Nicolae Ceausescu fleeing Bucharest by helicopter at 12:08 on 22nd December 1989. The talkshow takes place on the sixteenth anniversary of Ceausescu's downfall, and hinges on a debate about when the population of Vaslui began demonstrating.
The teacher maintains that he was part of a small group of people who shouted anti-Ceausescu slogans in the town square before 12:08, though all of the show's callers disagree with him. Defending himself against accusations that he is a liar, he repeatedly recounts what happened in the town square, adding extra information each time. The callers (including an ex-guard, with all the best lines, who exposes the show's inadequacies) all offer their own different versions of what took place. As in Rashomon, objective truth remains elusive.
Labels: films
posted by Matthew Hunt at 21:41
2 Comments:
I like this film very much. In my opinion, this film is like an unintentional sequel to VIDEOGRAM OF A REVOLUTION (1992, Harun Farocki, Andrei Ujica) which is an excellent documentary about that exact time—12:08 in Bucharest—the time of the revolution.
I think 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST is great in conveying serious topics in a comedy manner. I think making a film about serious topics is difficult enough, but telling such topics in an entertaining way like this must be much more difficult.
My friend said that what is very sad in the film is that there is a female character who calls the talk show near the end of the film. She is the one who really suffers from the revolution, because she lost someone in that event. But other characters don’t pay attention to her. That is very sad.
Global politics was so interesting at that time, with the fall of the Iron Curtain. Videogram Of A Revolution sounds fascinating.
I agree that it's tragic that the second female caller in 12:08 is treated badly, when she is the one who suffered most. It makes the talkshow's main topic (did they protest before 12:08 or not?) seem trivial in comparison.
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