OUT OF COMPETITION:
NIKI & FLO
ROMANIA / FRANCE 2003
DIRECTED BY: LUCIAN PINTILIE, 99 MIN
A bizarre, towards the end very dark tragic comedy about the disintegration
of values in a Bucharest family. The protagonists are introduced at the
funeral of Niki’s beloved son Mihai: Niki, an old retired colonel,
his sickly wife Poucha, his lively daughter Angela and her newly-wed husband
Eugen, as well as Eugen’s parents Florian (Flo) and Doina, two modern
people in their mid-forties. While Niki is rooted in traditional values
– he likes to wear his uniform for family-gatherings, is still called
“Colonel” by his neighbours and lives in a small apartment
full of memorabilia –, Flo is a full-fledged vegetarian, smartly
dressed and interested in “modern” theories that are really
rooted in the 70s. He has a computer, a refrigerator filled with delicacies
and a Renault he lovingly services.
Despite their ideological differences, the two men often stick together
– even though the arrogant know-it-all Flo delights in correcting
Niki and ordering him around. It is Flo who encourages his son and Niki’s
daughter Angela – who still live at Niki’s – to emigrate
to the US. Suddenly on her own, Poucha sinks into senile dementia, while
Niki is forced to watch the young couple leave and “his family”
disintegrate. When Flo’s wife literally transforms the two old people
into cartoon-characters on her husband’s birthday – also “National
Army Day” – the long simmering conflict erupts.
Caligari: 23.04. / 5.30 p.m.
Bambi: 24.04. / 8 p.m.
Main character Victor Rebengiuc will be present.
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