“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians”

The main idea of this film is to emphasize the importance of remembering the dark periods and events in a nation's history in all their horror, contrasting with those who try to downplay or soften these voices. This is a very important and commendable goal, and I have no issue with this kind of activism. Unfortunately, the film's often annoyingly anti-viewer style left me mostly bored. It only enriched me with a few snippets of dialogue that offered interesting insights or philosophical thoughts, but nothing substantial enough to make watching it feel worthwhile. Overall, the film is painfully drawn out and overly complicated. Sitting through long excerpts read in Romanian was a real challenge for my attention span. While the film will undoubtedly find its audience, it didn’t win me over. Despite its strong theme, there wasn’t a single scene that truly gripped me — not even the promised "epic" finale. So, for my part, I say: "I do not care if I go down in history as a barbarian who didn't like this film." (07/03/2018)

What is the very last thing I want to see on the screen, even at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where I voluntarily opted to watch a Romanian film? THIS. Self-proclaimed creative intellectuals in tortuously long shots discussing the morality and ethics of their country’s history and debating the importance of dissecting it for young people while reminding the older generations of it. Viewers who would benefit the most from such a lecture will never watch it in this form. I give one star for the technical aspect – those long shots with additional background elements required some planning from the filmmakers. Otherwise, sheer boredom. (07/05/2018)