Moromete Family: On the Edge of Time to start production in September
- Stere Gulea’s sequel to one of the most popular adaptations in Romanian cinema will be released next year
Released in 1987, The Moromete Family, an adaptation of Marin Preda’s classic novel of the same name, soon became one of the most critically acclaimed films in Romanian cinema. Rumours about a sequel have been circulating ever since, and now they have become a reality: Romanian director Stere Gulea returns to the same universe with Moromete Family: On the Edge of Time [+see also:
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film profile], scheduled to start production in the second half of September. With a budget of €1.5 million, the Libra Film project is being produced by Tudor Giurgiu.
Gulea wrote the screenplay based on Preda’s sequel to the novel and on various articles published by the writer in the Romanian press. The film follows Ilie Moromete (Horaţiu Mălăele, replacing Victor Rebengiuc from the original film), a peasant whose intelligence, sense of humour and common sense have turned him into a symbol of the Romanian psyche. He is facing the biggest challenge of his life: the infamous collectivisation, where the communists seized private property and made it state property. The protagonist will oppose the state decision with all his might.
DoP Vivi Drăgan Vasile will shoot the sequel in black and white, exactly as he shot the original film. The shooting will take place in the same village, with art director Cristian Niculescu now hard at work in order to recreate the house and the surroundings from the 1987 movie. Dana Dogaru, Iosif Paştina, Răzvan Vasilescu, George Mihăiţă, Andi Vasluianu and Oana Pellea will play other significant parts in the screenplay. Last year, the project received a grant of approximately €330,000 from the Romanian National Film Center.
According to lead actor Horaţiu Mălăele, the film will explore the “bittersweet, sometimes tragic, history of the Romanian peasant”, but also the “disastrous social experiments” of the communist regime.
The film will be released next November by distributor Transilvania Film, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original production.
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