Educational Media Reviews Online

This film attempts to describe the city of Bucharest, Romania, through the stories of six people and the houses they live in. It interviews people like Andrei, who lived with his parents for fifty years, and now lives alone in a house full of memories. An architect and artist, who built many of the buildings in the city and who states that "Art is the revolution of the soul". The most poignant is the story of an old woman who had her home taken away by the Soviet government fifty years before and now lives in a high rise apartment. She tells us that "life is a long punishment" and "an encyclopedia of pain and adventures".

The film structure is very disjointed. Equal time is not given to each individual interviewed. Almost twenty minutes is spent with Andrei, mostly watching him iron a handkerchief. Only two or three minutes are spent with Paul. All the viewer learns about him is that he is twenty-nine years old, in love and "life is good" for him. It seems that the director is trying to create an art film, rather than a documentary. The viewer actually learns very little about Bucharest and the way life is there today. The film meanders from place to place, with long periods of time spent just looking at the architecture of the city. Little time is spent with the people and learning how they live. Not recommended.