The Oak

Lucian Pintilie's 1992 Romanian film describes the country just before Ceaușescu fell. Nela is the daughter of a former colonel in the secret police; unlike her sister she refused to become part of the apparatus and lived with her father. When he dies she leaves Bucharest for a small town and meets Mitica, a surgeon who laughs at everything and mocks the system openly. The two are alike: both gave up obeying the rules long ago. The film does not advance its plot in orderly fashion, proceeding instead in a chaotic, aggressive and often grotesque register. Pintilie, a director who had been forced to work abroad for years, made this on returning home and did not hide his anger. Maia Morgenstern's performance carries it. Who it's for: viewers who like Eastern European cinema and harsh comedies aimed at a regime. Who it's not for: anyone wanting orderly narrative and a measured tone; the film is deliberately unruly.