At last I have a new computer. This one is not making noise like a lawn-mower, so I might at last be able and in the mood to update my miserable blog more often. I am in the last month of a MUBI promotion-offer and this has had a big influence on my choice of films. Otherwise I might never have seen Hotel Dallas.
This film is a blend of documentary, fairy-tale and drama, all at a time and maybe nothing.
Under the dictatorship of the Ceaucescu's Romanian TV showed mainly programs about the great leader - and at times also Dallas. This long-running series were like a fairy-tale. It was supposed to show how corrupt the capitalist system was. Romanians, however, saw it as a fairy-tale. Yes, corruption existed in Romania, but America could do it on large scale. It is also suggested that Romanian business people after the revolution of 1989 took the JR as the role model for their business practises.
One of these fraudsters rebuilt the Southfork Farm as a hotel and because he could, he also remodeled the Eiffel Tower. He is granted a song to tell his story.
Children, dressed as communist pioneers re-enact key scenes from Dallas. Later they become the Ceauxescu's and are shot.
An American, Mr. Here, visits Hotel Dallas. He is looking for an Endless Column. Livia Ungur is receptionist at this hotel. First they visit her mother, then they travel in a cake box to Bukarest, where they attend a Christmas party with a talk about philosophy, circular time and history.
And so on. There is little coherence. It seems that the film makers already had problems to fill the rather short running length of 74 minutes.
There are probably many allusions. The tunes may be known to Romanian viewers, more allusions might be known to the fans of Dallas. If you are neither, you see a lot of good beginnings, but a messy outcome.
2/10
This film is a blend of documentary, fairy-tale and drama, all at a time and maybe nothing.
Under the dictatorship of the Ceaucescu's Romanian TV showed mainly programs about the great leader - and at times also Dallas. This long-running series were like a fairy-tale. It was supposed to show how corrupt the capitalist system was. Romanians, however, saw it as a fairy-tale. Yes, corruption existed in Romania, but America could do it on large scale. It is also suggested that Romanian business people after the revolution of 1989 took the JR as the role model for their business practises.
One of these fraudsters rebuilt the Southfork Farm as a hotel and because he could, he also remodeled the Eiffel Tower. He is granted a song to tell his story.
Children, dressed as communist pioneers re-enact key scenes from Dallas. Later they become the Ceauxescu's and are shot.
An American, Mr. Here, visits Hotel Dallas. He is looking for an Endless Column. Livia Ungur is receptionist at this hotel. First they visit her mother, then they travel in a cake box to Bukarest, where they attend a Christmas party with a talk about philosophy, circular time and history.
And so on. There is little coherence. It seems that the film makers already had problems to fill the rather short running length of 74 minutes.
There are probably many allusions. The tunes may be known to Romanian viewers, more allusions might be known to the fans of Dallas. If you are neither, you see a lot of good beginnings, but a messy outcome.
2/10
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