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‘The New Year That Never Came’ Review: A Tragicomic Tangle of Romanian Lives at the End of an Era
Bogdan Mureșanu's robust ensemble piece 'The New Year That Never Came' captures national unrest in the dying days of the Ceaușescu regime.
A little overlong at 138 minutes, and a little opaque in its opening stretch, this is nonetheless a symphonic work that earns its sustained, unsubtle use of Maurice Ravel’s “Boléro” throughout its rousing climax, with an audience-friendly arthouse sweep that won it the top prize in Venice’s Orizzonti competition last year, and more recently the New Voices New Visions Award at Palm Springs. The gig promises Florina the biggest exposure of her career, but she balks at having to deliver a “mandatory homage” to Ceaușescu on camera, praising him as “the living symbol of love for this country.” Producer Stefan (Mihai Calin) is also distracted: his college-age son Laurentiu (Andrei Miercure) has attracted the interest of the dreaded Secret Police after appearing in a satirical student play, and is attempting to flee the country. After an introduction that may leave some viewers adrift as a flurry of characters is introduced without much supporting context, Mureșanu and editors Vanja Kovacevic and Mircea Lacatus find a deftly rotating rhythm for their many-headed narrative, identifying common personal and political threads in parallel strands while maintaining a keen, ticking sense of linear time.
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