A Farewell To Fools

Once upon a time, during WWII, somewhere in Nazi occupied Romania, a night of comic misadventures ensues when a boy discovers a dead soldier.

Director:

Bogdan Dumitrescu (as Bogdan Dreyer)

Writers:

Titus Popovici (novel), Anusavan Salamanian

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel, Laura Morante

 

Storyline

Once upon a time, during WWII, somewhere in Nazi occupied Romania, a night of comic misadventures ensues when a boy discovers a dead soldier. The German authorities demand that the perpetrator must be identified or the town leaders will be shot the following morning. In their desperation, led by Father Johanis (Harvey Keitel), their salvation seems to lie in convincing the town "fool", Ipu (Gérard Depardieu), to agree to confess, and save them all with his sacrifice. The comedy and darker sides of human nature race toward the deadline where one cannot help but wonder who, in fact, is the actual "fool"?

Version 1

User Reviews

 

not even comparable to Nicolaescu's original

7 April 2013 | by benke_nandor (Romania) – See all my reviews

Full of historical errors (they use Cluj's post-communist flag during WW2?) and lacking any of the psychological and dramatic depth of the 1972 version, this film, albeit well shot and edited, is an unnecessary re-adaptation of Popovici's text. Without firm direction and tight script, the only acting to be somewhat appraised, belongs to Mr. Harvey Keitel. Mr. Depardieu only manages to aimlessly wander through his lines, and the changed ending (as by the producers' wishes) just steals what little enjoyment was left in this venture. An interesting take though is to replace the original Romanian pope to a Transylvanian Saxon minister, thus enabling even more historical debate over the subject.