California Dreamin (film)
7.8 /10 1 Votes
89% Director Cristian Nemescu Duration Language Romanian
English | 7.9/10 IMDb 3.3/5 Genre Comedy, Drama, War Country Romania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 17 May 2007 (2007-05-17) (Cannes)
1 June 2007 (2007-06-01) (Romania) Writer Catherine Linstrum (additional dialogue), Cristian Nemescu, Tudor Voican Screenplay Cristian Nemescu, Tudor Voican, Catherine Linstrum Awards Prize of Un Certain Regard Cast Armand Assante (Captain Jones), R?zvan Vasilescu (Doiaru), Jamie Elman (Sergeant David McClaren), Maria Dinulescu (Monica), Ion Sapdaru (The Mayor), Alexandru Margineanu (Andrei)Similar movies 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days , The Death of Mr. Lazarescu , Tuesday, After Christmas , 12:08 East of Bucharest , Beyond the Hills , Child's Pose |
A railway chief delays a shipment of weapons for NATO forces during the Kosovo War in 1999.
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California Dreamin (endless) (Romanian: ) is a 2007 Romanian film by Cristian Nemescu. It won the Prix un certain regard at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It also picked up the Iris Award for Best Film, the Audience Award and the Canvas Award at the Brussels European Film Festival 2007. The film is also sometimes called Endless in English, nesfarsit being Romanian for "endless". The director died before editing was completed. MediaPro Studios decided to edit the film with the entirety of the material left by Nemescu, a decision which led to the considerable runtime of 155 minutes.

Romanian director Cristian Nemescu's comedy California Dreamin' (aka Nesfarsit, 2007) unfolds against the backdrop of the Kosovo War, circa 1999. A NATO train rolls through a Romanian hamlet, transporting a plethora of weapons across the country without official documents, and equipped only with the verbal consent of the Romanian authorities. The transport thus grows intensely vulnerable.
Plot
Im in Romania, I guess
California dreamin trailer
The plot is based on a true story: in 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a train containing American radar equipment required in Kosovo, guarded by a small troop of American and Romanian soldiers, went through Romania and was stopped for four days in a small village on the Baragan Plain because some customs papers were missing, even though the train had been authorised to pass through Romania by its Prime Minister.

In the movie, the train is stopped several days in the village of Capalnita by the chief of the train station, Doiaru, who is corrupt and routinely steals goods from the trains which go through his station. He forces the train to move onto a siding until the paperwork is produced. The Americans try in vain to get the Romanian government to sort out the paperwork, but the responsibility is passed from one ministry to the other and as a result, their departure is delayed.

Periodic flashbacks take the audience back to Doiarus childhood, when his parents, who were factory owners, awaited the coming of the Americans at the end of World War 2. As his father was considered a German supporter, Doiarus family dreaded the arrival of the Russians. However, the Russians arrived first and they took away Doiarus parents and he never saw them again. The first Americans to arrive in the village after the war are the very soldiers on the train in 1999.

The mayor of the village tries to make the Americans stay enjoyable and invites them to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the village, even though such a feast was celebrated only a few months before. Doiarus daughter, Monica, develops a crush on an American soldier, but as she knows no English, she uses the help of a local geek, Andrei, who is in love with her.

The mayor and the rest of the villagers are incited into revolting against Doiaru and start a riot, during the course of which the train leaves and Doiaru dies.

An ending note says that the radar was installed two hours after the ceasefire with Yugoslavia was signed, and the final scene shows Monica and Andrei meeting in Bucharest in 2004.
Similar Movies

Gabriel Spahiu appears in California Dreamin and Occident. Razvan Vasilescu appears in California Dreamin and Offset. The Actor and the Savages (1975). Razvan Vasilescu appears in California Dreamin and The Oak. Boogie (2008).
Cast


References
California Dreamin (film) WikipediaCalifornia Dreamin (film) IMDbCalifornia Dreamin (film) Rotten TomatoesCalifornia Dreamin (film) AlloCineCalifornia Dreamin (film) themoviedb.org