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DIRECTED BY: Ion Popescu-Gopo
FEATURING: Iurie Darie, Liliana Tomescu, Haralambie Boros
PLOT: An everyday man finds himself in the midst of conflicts between opposing factions for the possession of a small nuclear bomb.
COMMENTS: The Cold War nuclear annihilation paranoia that raged from the late 1940s to the 1980s left a lasting impact on global cinema. Stanley Kubrick‘s nihilistic political satire Dr. Strangelove (1964) is perhaps the most iconic work on the subject. And who can forget the ominous haunting animation When the Wind Blows (1986)?
The cinema of the former Eastern Bloc followed a slightly different, more didactic approach, however; it tried to offer constructive arguments. Even Krakatit (1948), a Czechoslovakian film following a dreamlike logic, offers a moral lesson towards the end. Romania’s A Bomb Was Stolen, despite stylistic differences, is a product of the same ideological line. The plot follows an everyday man finding himself amidst a chaos of conflicts for the possession of a small stolen nuclear bomb. By pure chance, he comes into possession of a valise containing nuclear explosives, without the slightest idea of its contents. While wandering around town trying to find the bag’s owners, he finds love with a beautiful girl working in the tramways.
The first few moments of this film establishes long shots of deserted landscapes, showcasing a formalist geometrical austerity in the composition, but this aesthetic won’t be sustained for the film. Instead, variety shows and silent era slapstick cinema are the main influences. Silent cinema in fact dictates the style, since dialogue is completely absent. What we have is exaggerated, hysterical acting and a plethora of visual gags—from typical food fights to the most bizarre (an inventive method of assassination). Add in futuristic imagery from a 1950’s sci-fi B-movie and a few stop-motion animated effects and the result is a playful overall tone.
Our protagonist remains an everyday man ignorant of the bigger events surrounding him; but not in a Kafkaesque sense. He is never in real danger, always having a sense of control and agency. In the end, along with his newfound girlfriend (an exemplary representative of the working class) he even have constructive propositions to suggest, contributing to positive social change.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY: