If January is a month to seek the comfort of classics, so is February. And Bucharest surely delivers these days.

Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour arrived for its second edition in Bucharest, and I am delighted to see it was not a singular event last year. Taking place in the Italian town of Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, (“cinema re-discovered”) has been around for almost four decades and it is the most important festival dedicated to the preservation and restoration of original film material worldwide. There are many known films shown in terrific restoration and just as many that have been lost or almost destroyed. Always a revelation.

Cinema Elvire Popescu is hosting the Bucharest event until 9 February, this time dedicated to Marcello Mastroianni, born 100 years ago, the actor associated most with the Italian cinema of the 1950s to 1970s (you might remember him from the last column). Vittorio De Sica paired him with another icon, Sophia Loren, in a series of vignettes about romance, sex, and all things Italian. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow/ Ieri, oggi, domani (1963) is frothy and carried by a fabulous acting duo. My absolute highlight is Ermanno Olmi’s Il Posto, Il Job in its English title, and The Sound of Trumpets in its US released title. The 1961 drama is a magnificent coming-of-age (very) bittersweet story about a shy young man trying to find his place in his first proper job at a big company in Milan. On his journey he also stumbles into unexpected (potential) romance. Il Posto is gentle, melancholic and amusing, while the criticism of faceless companies and corporate work is sharp and clear. Tender and wise, this is such a gem.

Three of the films are much less popular: Armenian, Georgia (then USSR)-born Sergei Parajanov is famous for his later poetic, striking films so what a great chance to see his debut Andriesh (1954) and the 1966 Kyiv Frescoes, while Marva Nabili’s The Sealed Soil/ Khak-e Sar Bé Mohr (1977) is one of the two films directed by women in Iran before the 1979 Revolution that survived. What rediscovered treasures indeed.

I am moving on to more classics, this time in no need of any rediscovery in the historical sense but forever re-watchable. Cinemateca Eforie dedicates weekends to filmmakers and these days it’s Jack Lemmon’s turn. The beloved American actor is probably best known for Some Like It Hot (1959), one of the most quoted comedies of all time, also starring a hilarious Marilyn Monroe. Lemmon plays a double-bass player who has to escape the Chicago mob together with his musician friend (Tony Curtis,in another strike-of-genius casting). They join a women’s band, dresses as, well, women, and off they go to Florida. It is fantastic how funny and fresh the film still is, and how progressive in its approach to gender. It has the perfect ending, the perfect end line, which I wouldn't spoil for many if I said it but I will not ruin the fun (and surprise) for those who don’t. My favourite Jack Lemon pic is also screening. The Apartment (1960) is a love story between two honest people taken advantage of (in various ways) by their bosses. A perceptive, witty, very moving film that has not aged a day, and a damning criticism of de-humanizing workplaces, abusive power, and hypocrisy. Just to make a full circle back to Il Posto. Not coincidentally both comedies are by Billy Wilder, a brilliant director, and a director of brilliant comedies. I like to think the films are a like a Valentine’s Day preview, a more cynical, cheeky, gender-bending Valentine’s Day. And so much more interesting.  

By Ioana Moldovan, columnist, ioana.moldovan@romania-insider.com
(Photo info & source: still from The Apartment, Cinemateca Eforie on Facebook)