CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (ENDLESS)

Cristian Nemescu, Catherine Linstrum Written by Cristian Nemescu, Catherine Linstrum,Tudor Voican Starring: Armand Assante, Jamie Elman, Razvan Vasilescu, Maria Dinelscu Distributed by Artificial Eye Released on May 30th 2008 in the U.K. Review by Michael Edwards

rating: 4

Following the success of 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS it was inevitable that some more Romanian films would be picked up from the festival circuit, and one of them is CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (ENDLESS): a complex tale of love, memory, bureaucracy and international relations from director Cristian Nemescu. To find the right angle for a synopsis of this heavyweight film (it has a total run time of 155 minutes) is not easy. The basic set-up is that we're in Romania during the 1999 NATO bombardment of Kosovo, and a band of American soldiers led by Captain Jones (Armand Assante) have been sent to install a vital radar station in south of Romania. However, along the way they encounter corrupt and vigourously bureaucratic stationmaster Doiaru (Razvan Vasilescu) in the small town of Capalnita. The radar has been allowed passage through the country thanks to a special decree to the foreign ministry, but Doiaru is adamant that he needs the specific customs papers before the train may pass. The Americans thus stay in the village, much to the delight of the mayor who seems to think that, despite being soldiers, they have the potential to bring much needed foreign investment to the town. Similarly, the young ladies of the village see their chance to escape with an exotic Westerner and leave their village lives behind. Parties are thrown, romances created and sentiment spills over in all directions as the many deep-seated tensions and frustrations of the rural Romanian psyche force their way out. Foremost among the themes exhibited in this brilliantly rich drama/comedy/political commentary is that of the Romanian past and its relation to America. During World War Two many Romanians clung to the vain hope that the Americans would arrive and save them from the advancing menaces of communism and fascism, and for years after American aid never materialised. This particular theme is played out largely through an artfully executed series of flashbacks to a World War Two bombing raid and it's aftermath which deeply affected some of the citizens of Capalnita, and still has a part to play in the events of the film. But a majority of this is evident in the attitude of many of the older Romanians who view the Americans with a mixture of distaste and disillusionment, and find their preachy crusader approach to their military activities a hypocritically bitter reminder of their own indifference to Romanians. On the flipside, the attitudes of the young women and the mayor (as well as of the young men - though in a different way) reflect the continued image of America as a wealthy capitalist utopia. There are a wealth of occasionally funny and often poignant scenes between the unlikely lovers that cross the language barrier, as well as a Romanian translator who takes full advantage of his appropriated US army uniform, which spice up the commentary. Some of the lover scenes are reminiscent of Emir Kusturica in their vitality and musicality, and this vividness is amply supported by scenes such as the village foundation party thrown (months too late) by the mayor. The street is decorated with pictures of famous Americans as diverse as the Terminator and Benjamin Franklin and the celebrations come complete with an Elvis impersonator! Added to these often jovially raised issues are a detailed mix of South-Eastern European politics, life in a small village and in-depth questions of the nature of duty and dedication, and these supply us with a number of far more serious moments. A scene in which the Americans are taken to a local brothel by the mayor in a tempt to win them over to his ridiculous ideas of investment in the village begin hilariously, but soon reveal the uncomfortable and unnecessary excesses of corrupt capitalism. On the separate topic of bureaucracy, there are a number of superb face-off scenes between Captain Jones and Doiaru which eek out the root of their actions carefully and cleverly. There is even a scene where a rallying speech by Captain Jones is intended to remind us of the famous speech made by Slobodan Milosevic when he left a conference to see 'his Serbs' being attacked by riot police, a turning point generally seen as finally marking his turn to radical Serbian nationalism. A vicious attack on the inherent fascism of the American military if ever there was one. To top all of this off, the 'action' of these various comic and tragic moments is punctuated by many scenes of the mundanities of daily life which never let us escape the reality of the place that spawned these flurries of activity which reveal such complex assumptions and opinions. By no your head should be starting to spin at the depth of the content of this movie - mine certainly was by the end of it. The lengthy piece is frequently clunky in trying to convey so many themes in such a small set-up, and a lot of the film feels raw and unpolished which sadly hampers its overall effect. The tragic reason behind this clunkiness, and the unwieldy length of the film, may well be that director Cristian Nemescu was killed in a car crash before CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (his first feature) was completed, and it is being released as it was left before his death. It is a painfully sad fact that we may never know how he might have polished up this witty and intelligent film, but I'm at least glad that I got the chance to see it and I suggest that if you can get to a cinema where it's showing, and have the patience to sit through it, you really should give it a chance. It's not a film for everyone, but it certainly has a lot to say.