THE OAK

Stubborn Nela, daughter of a former intelligence service officer, moves from Bucharest out into the countryside after her father’s death, where she becomes friends with the rebellious doctor Milica. The two become lovers and together defy the absurdities and horrors of the final days of communist Romania, while trying to defend their dignity. In this sarcastic vision of the Ceauşescu regime’s inhumanity, Pintilie translates the original breathless narrative of the Ion Băieșu novel upon which it is based into grippingly paced cinema. His film is loaded with emotion, graced with darkest gallows humour and virtually screaming for freedom.