Film Reviews

California Dreamin'

• Rating:
• Director: Cristian Nemescu
• Starring: Armand Assante
• Details: Romania / 155mins (15A).

"So we're stuck in the fold of the map in the middle of Romania? How more stuck can we be?" bellows Capt. Doug Jones (Assante) after his Kosovo-bound train carrying NATO military hardware is stopped in Caralnita, Romania, in 1999. Doiaru (Vasilescu), the stationmaster and black-marketer, has stalled Jones's train with hopes of getting his hands on the top-secret goodies inside. The arrival of the Americans in the small town is big news for the locals; the Mayor (Ian Sapdaru) organises parties to keep the soldiers entertained and a love story crops up when soldier David (Elman) falls for Monica (Dinulescu), Doiaru's daughter. At first the stopover is just a nuisance, but as the heat, the boredom and the bureaucracy get ever stickier, Jones and Doiaru go head-to-head. California Dreamin's richly drawn characters fleshed out by flawless performances (Assante, Vasilescu and Sapdaru act up a storm) and subtle humour are just part of a film that surprises at every turn. Similar in many ways to the recent The Band's Visit - two worlds colliding but get on like a house on fire - Nemescu keeps the film's plot at bay for as long as he can, letting the interesting characters carry the film. It's a brave move and for the most part Nemescu pulls it off, but his film could have done with a little more footage on the cutting room floor. It's far too long for what it is and if that's the point - we feel for Assante and his frustration to 'get on with the job at hand' - it's a point well made. Nemescu died before he finished the editing so that too might have influenced the wandering structure.

Review by Gavin Burke