"I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians"
A provocative, sarcastic, and momentous act of interrogation between the past and the present.
-- Jessica Kiang, Variety
"I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians"
Best Film – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival; Best Feature Film – IndieLisboa
International Independent Film Festival; Best Film – Minsk International Film Festival; Best
Film – Vukovar Film Festival; selected to represent Romania for the 2019 Academy Awards
“I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians.” These words, spoken by Romania’s military dictator Marshal Ion Antonescu in the Council of Ministers in the summer of 1941,
started the ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.
“Tasked with staging a public performance relating to Romanian history, an idealistic theatre director opts to stage a reenactment of a 1941 massacre of tens of thousands of Jews by Romanian troops. Her choice angers a city official who threatens to close the production because of its “anti-Romanian” take on history. However, the reaction to the piece is one that neither anticipated.
This internationally-acclaimed dark satire is a timely statement about the consequences of selective and willful amnesia on a society fueled by populist sentiments.” - Toronto Jewish Film Festival
One of contemporary Europe's most distinctive creators has come out with an ingeniously conceived film. While it unfolds slowly and in detail, it hits the viewer with a singular emotional punch.
Radu Jude’s sixth feature comes on the heels of a pair of critical favorites—AFERIM!, featured on New York Times critic A.O. Scott’s “Best of 2016” list; and SCARRED HEARTS, which made The New Yorker critic Richard Brody’s “Best of 2018” list.
Jude, whose earlier fiction feature films (THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD and EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY) received accolades at numerous festivals in Europe and the US, is also known for a string of prize-winning short films, including THE TUBE WITH A HAT (2006), which took the top prize at Sundance and 15 other awards at festivals around the world.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – Winner – Crystal Globe for Best Film; Best Foreign Film –Academy Awards Selection from Romania
“A dazzlingly dialectical and daring comedy/drama.” – Screen Daily
A young artist is planning to reconstruct a historical event from 1941, during which the Romanian Army carried out ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.
One of contemporary Europe's most distinctive creators has come out with an ingeniously conceived film. While it unfolds slowly and in detail, it hits the viewer with a singular emotional punch.
International Independent Film Festival; Best Film – Minsk International Film Festival; Best
Film – Vukovar Film Festival; selected to represent Romania for the 2019 Academy Awards
“I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians.” These words, spoken by Romania’s military dictator Marshal Ion Antonescu in the Council of Ministers in the summer of 1941,
started the ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.
“Tasked with staging a public performance relating to Romanian history, an idealistic theatre director opts to stage a reenactment of a 1941 massacre of tens of thousands of Jews by Romanian troops. Her choice angers a city official who threatens to close the production because of its “anti-Romanian” take on history. However, the reaction to the piece is one that neither anticipated.
This internationally-acclaimed dark satire is a timely statement about the consequences of selective and willful amnesia on a society fueled by populist sentiments.” - Toronto Jewish Film Festival
One of contemporary Europe's most distinctive creators has come out with an ingeniously conceived film. While it unfolds slowly and in detail, it hits the viewer with a singular emotional punch.
Radu Jude’s sixth feature comes on the heels of a pair of critical favorites—AFERIM!, featured on New York Times critic A.O. Scott’s “Best of 2016” list; and SCARRED HEARTS, which made The New Yorker critic Richard Brody’s “Best of 2018” list.
Jude, whose earlier fiction feature films (THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD and EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY) received accolades at numerous festivals in Europe and the US, is also known for a string of prize-winning short films, including THE TUBE WITH A HAT (2006), which took the top prize at Sundance and 15 other awards at festivals around the world.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – Winner – Crystal Globe for Best Film; Best Foreign Film –Academy Awards Selection from Romania
“A dazzlingly dialectical and daring comedy/drama.” – Screen Daily
A young artist is planning to reconstruct a historical event from 1941, during which the Romanian Army carried out ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.
One of contemporary Europe's most distinctive creators has come out with an ingeniously conceived film. While it unfolds slowly and in detail, it hits the viewer with a singular emotional punch.
Genre
Comedy,
Drama,
The Films of Radu Jude
Web Site
Runtime
139
Language
Romanian
Director
Radu Jude
Writer(s)
Radu Jude
Cast
IOANA IACOB (Mariana),
ALEXANDRU DABIJA (Movilă),
Alex Bogdan,
Ilinca Manolache,
ȘERBAN PAVLU (Ștefan),
ION RIZEA (Alexianu),
BOGDAN COTLEȚ (Decebal),
LILIANA GHIȚĂ (Mrs Racoviță),
ION ARCUDEANU (Lăcustă),
MIHAI NICULESCU (Lupu),
GABRIEL SPAHIU (the Romanian,
LARISA CRUNȚEANU (Romanian,
soldier),
TUDOREL FILIMON (Laiotă),
RAREȘ HONTZU (priest)
Awards:
Winner, Crystal Globe ~ Best Film, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Nominee, FIPRESCI Prize ~ Best Foreign Language Film, Palm Springs International Film Festival
FEATURED REVIEW
Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
The difficulty of turning mass spectacle into moral edification, of getting the public to think and care about history in ways that go beyond simple-minded patriotism, is a problem that this brilliantly multifaceted picture both critiques and embodies.... The intelligence and sustained intensity of ...
Played at
Monica Film Center 7.26.19 - 8.01.19
Playhouse 7 7.27.19 - 7.28.19
Laemmle Virtual Cinema 11.26.21 - 3.03.22
There are currently no showtimes for this film. Please check back soon.