I've watched the first twenty minutes or so of the movie and i stopped. I simply couldn't bear watching the rest of it. I wanted to scream: 'the horror, the horror!' I am Romanian and I had the misfortune of experiencing the oppression of the communist regime with all its '2-hour TV programme, Ceausescu's speeches, cold apartments, endless queues for scraps of food, poor clothing, the security, people being afraid to talk freely etc.' Nevertheless, I never laid eyes on such brutal realities as this movies depicts. A work of art is supposed to produce the so called 'katharsis', that is, turn all the ugliness, fear and violence into something beautiful and above all meaningful. This movie only grotesquely pictures misery, abuse and hatred of life. No touch of humour or tenderness as rendered by Kusturica (who managed to find and graciously reveal universal values and emotions in the dirty, wrinkled faces of the gypsies). Somehow, Pintilie succeeded in eluding everything spiritual, cutting out all that makes a human being worth living on this earth. This movie only leaves you with disgust.
Review of The Oak
