Contrary to 'normal' approaches to documentaries, this one does not comment. Anything. The film consists of a series of news clips, some without any sound at all, detailing 25 years in the career of Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania's last Communist leader.
In the year of revolutions 1989, Romania was the only country of the Warsaw Pact in which the demonstrations against the regime turned bloody. Nicolae Ceaușescu grossly misjudged his people's mood, giving one last rousing speech from his balcony. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife Elena (also, his Deputy Prime Minister) fled the capitol with a helicopter. The police had turned against them, as well, refusing to follow his instructions to shoot demonstrators in the town of Timișoara. Instead, the picked up the Ceaușescus and put them on trial. Despite Ceaușescu's refusal to accept the court's authority, after all - he insisted - he is their president and only the National Committee can try him.
The footage follows the timeline from the death of his predecessor, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, until the death of Ceaușescu himself. Clips of mass gatherings celebrating the leaders of Romania alternate with speeches. What changes most significantly over the course of time is the rhetoric.
Despite the lack of commentary and judgement on the filmmaker's part, the point is put across quite well, leaving the audience to make their own judgement.
Impressive.
7/10
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