Beyond the New Romanian Cinema: Romanian Culture, History, and the Films of Radu Jude

by Andrei Gorzo, Veronica Lazăr

“A stellar representative of the New Romanian Cinema, Radu Jude also belongs to a select group of politically-minded East European filmmakers who have taken as their subject the nature of the media and the circulation of images (Vertov and Eisenstein, Dušan Makavejev, the Ukrainian documentari- an Sergei Loznitsa). For that reason, Andrei Gorzo and Veronica Lazăr’s Beyond the New Romanian Cinema: Romanian Culture, History, and the Films of Radu Jude is both welcome and essential.” / J. Hoberman, author of The Red Atlantis: Communist Culture in the Absence of Communism

“Beyond the New Romanian Cinema: Romanian Culture, History, and the Films of Radu Jude delivers what it promises in its title, and offers more. It locates Radu Jude’s films against the backdrop of the New Romanian Cinema, a phenomenon which put Romanian cinema on the map of European and world cinema, arguing that Jude overcame a certain sterility and timidity of this movement by creating a very rich and versatile body of work, comprising films of different genres and formats. At the same time as offering a meticulous and thought-provoking analysis of Jude’s films, the authors use them to explore the strengths and limitations of the auteurist paradigm, both in Romania and more widely.” / Ewa Mazierska, Professor of Film Studies, University of Central Lancashire

“This impressive study of filmmaker Radu Jude is invaluable not only for its acute critical observations, but also for its intelligent, informed commentary on Romanian cinema, culture, and society in general. I learned something impor- tant on virtually every page. Highly recommended.” / James Naremore, author of The Magic World of Orson Welles, Acting in the Cinema, and On Kubrick

“Andrei Gorzo and Veronica Lazăr offer a comprehensive and refined analysis of the films of Radu Jude, a filmmaker who has emerged with one of the most uncompromising voices ranging from the farcical macabre political satire to a philosophical interrogation of representation, and who has addressed the most daring topics after the first wave of the so-called New Romanian Cinema. The monograph manages to combine a wide-angle film-historical and cultural perspective with an in-depth investigation unravelling the ways in which Jude’s cinema is ‘updating’ the legacy of European modernism in order to engage with pressing issues of Romanian culture and history.” / Ágnes Pethő, Professor of Film Studies, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania

Genres: Romania

243 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2023

Reviews

[Dorin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up after its launch at TIFF. Learned about the book launch by chance, while walking the streets of Cluj and waiting for some movie showings later that day. I am not a film critic, but I am following Gorzo’s reviews, especially those of new Romanian films. A book on Radu Jude’s filmography would probably not be my first choice when walking into a bookstore, but hearing the two authors talk about it, I was convinced to buy and read it.

I am no stranger to Radu Jude. I watched (most of) his films. I have noticed what he is interested in, his themes and motifs, his irony and frustrations, his subtlety and his frankness. In fact, some of his newer films have sparked interesting debates. Gorzo and Lazăr take these movies apart, piece by piece. They confirmed some of my thoughts and interpretations and offered me even more food for thought.

In a way, this is a volume of reviews, each chapter works individually. Not being accustomed to reading books on cinema and film criticism, this was interesting for another reason: the way these reviews are constructed, the research, the detail, the putting everything in context. I though I was watching films with a critical eye, but this is a whole other level.

I liked that the authors don’t necessarily limit themselves to Radu Jude. For an uninitiated reader, a lot of context is need, which they provide. They place Radu Jude in relation with the New Romanian Wave. They place his films in relation to Romanian history and socio-cultural evolutions in Romanian society.

All in all, a very interesting and (why not?) useful read.

4/5

[Teodora Lovin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrei Gorzo and Veronica Lazăr trace in this book the cinematic path of Radu Jude, by analyzing his films chronologically.
After reading "Romanian Culture, History, and the Films of Radu Jude", the reader understands how Radu Jude's films recast Romania's past via its style, language, and, most of all, taboos. The antisemitism, alongside pornography, sexualization, and racism become elements describing present attitudes within Romanian society; deconstructing them through cinema represents an available way of facing past, present, and possibly future debates over Romanian identity. Films like "I Do Not Care if we go down in History as Barbarians" or "Badluck Banging or Loony Porn" touch upon some of the most stringent (philosophical and societal) problems that we face nowadays: ferocious Western capitalism in a post-socialist socle, violence through image, negationism, nationalism, and all the '-ism' characterizing an unable society to understand its roots and dilemmas.
I strongly believe that this book will capture a chapter within Romanian cinema by ratifying Jude's role in addressing uncomfortable, though necessary, subjects. The authors assume the responsibility of trying to understand an ongoing debate: the power of cinema to seize realities that words only cannot express.

To be continued...

[Tudor Alexandru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Radu Jude is my favorite (Romanian) director and this book is exactly what I needed.