Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Too long,Unrealistic scenesThis movie is about a case.Tudor Moldovan try to solve The enigma of the massacres from Jilava prison.Movie shows fake history, behind the story about the case movie shows the beginning of Communist movement from Romania but this movie don't shows the truth.it's a politic movie about Communist movement like many other Romanian movies.

like each movie from Moldovan series by Nicolaescu, it is piece of its period. propaganda, crime, a hero and not inspired story. unrealistic but nice. because it is an exercise to do a technique good work. to create soft alternative to speech of regime. and transform facts from inter-wars Romania in basis for Ceaușescu dictatorship. why it is fake - the causes are at every step. why it is nice - answer has roots in childhood of two Romanian viewers. because the work of Sergiu Nicolaescu has a special place in Romanian cinematography. high attention to details - costumes, streets, buildings, filming way - is seed for an unrealistic product. so, a good film for memories. and for amusing for new generation who discovers that time like slice of fiction.

Extremely long, boring, unrealistic, lying, silly, comical through its stupidness, typical Soviet machine propaganda "movie".I've barely watched it just to see how much more they can invent and misrepresent the reality, what really happened, how really was, the HISTORICAL TRUTH, for their own good, for the mass brain washing purposes.If you don't know anything about 1940 Romania and you'd like to know everything or at least a little bit, all you have to do is to reverse the nonsense shown here at a 180 degrees angle.Or to remember that this movie was made by the worst Communist dictatorship in Europe, representing a doctrine that killed between 120 and 160 million people...

I've seen the unique series of romanian action movies, directed in a great manner by expert romanian director Sergiu Nicolaescu many times. The story of this movie is about the investigation run by police inspector Tudor Moldovan (played by Sergiu Nicolaescu), in the case of the murders committed at a prison in Bucharest by the fascist movement in Romania , during the 1940's. The story was somewhat discussed by the communist regime that ruled Romania, when the movie was made, who imposed Nicolaescu to show the communist movement that appears in the movie in a good light, giving it an overated role during the events that took place during the 1940's. However, the main character, Tudor Moldovan, keeps a neutral political line, which is a strong point of the movie. Built up using the Hollywood hero type, Tudor Moldovan is intelligent, brave, intuitive and ofcourse, a heart-breaker. However, Nicolaescu , being the man of action, hasn't insisted too much on the sentimental part so we won't see women almost at all in the entire movie. Moldovan has to put up with his rival: the professional assasin, "Paraipan", excellent played by Gheorghe Dinica. Also, other characters like Limba, played by Jean Constantin, the small time punk that helps Moldovan in his investigation, gives the movie a wonderful comedy taste. The end of the movie, is made in Nicolaescu's typical manner: after making justice among the bad guys, Tudor Moldovan is also shot in a heroic battle. This leaves you with quite a bitter taste exactly in the end and shows you that Nicolaescu doesn't like happy endings.. Nicolaescu is a master in the work of a camera. This can be seen in all of his movies, here as well. Overall, young Nicolaescu looks good, as a director as well as the main character in the movie. So: good acting, performed by many great romanian actors, good directing, Nicolaescu style, nice story. A great movie that you should see. 9/10