User Reviews

A poignant depiction of the early anti-communist resistance in Romania, the film captures the arrival of forced collectivization to a remote village in Transylvania during the 1950's and the heavy toll it takes on the social and family life of the peasants. Margineanu's style combines striking sequences of cinema verite (the brutal tactics of interrogation used by the secret police) with stylized depictions of human suffering and endurance. Interwoven throughout the film are the dramatic stories of the members of a wealthy farmer's family, who refuses to give up his land and livestock. A traditional family ethos clashes dramatically with the marauding and corrupt state bureaucracy. As a result, a complete generation of Romanian peasants and intellectuals is brutally wiped off and replaced with a "new" obedient and violent mass of half-wits.

'Someplace in the East' is among the first movies made in Romania after the fall of the Communism dealing with one of the troubled period at the beginning of the Comunist rule in Romania. It describes the forced expropriation of land by the Communists and the formation of the Communist farms, which was a real tragic episode in the Romanian history.

Without being a masterpiece, the film succeeds to put well in perspective the fight between the Communist activists and the peasants trying to save their property and keep not only their way of life but also their spirit. The rendition of the atmosphere, the authenticity of the local landscape and good acting from the principal characters are the strong features of the movie. There is less skill in the development of the characters and the story tries to tell too much in too short a time. However the dramatic tension of the conflict gives power to this movie, which is not flawless, but one of the first steps in the recovery of the true history of Romania in the second half of the 20th century by Romanian cinema.