Libertate

“Great disorder under the Heavens and the situation is excellent,” according to a well-known saying. In the case of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, when the country plunged into chaos amidst an orgy of violence and propaganda, it was anything but. Overwhelmed by the bloody maelstrom of the events in ’89, a police officer is arrested as a terrorist and ground down by the millstones of history. In his fifth and most accomplished film, Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu delivers a nerve-wracking and gripping thriller about the madness of the fall of the communist regime. It leaves a lasting impression on the viewer with its directorial prowess and the rawness of its subject matter. With an aesthetic reminiscent of documentaries from the distant but regrettably still vivid days of ’89, Libertate powerfully underscores both the significance and the price of freedom in our broader neighborhood.