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12:08 East of Bucharest

Play trailer Poster for 12:08 East of Bucharest 2006 1h 29m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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96% Tomatometer 47 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
On the anniversary of the overthrow of President Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanian talk show host Virgil Jderescu (Teo Corban) arranges a program dedicated to analyzing the town of Vaslui's role in the revolution. He recruits a strange cast of characters to answer questions, including Emanoil Piscoci (Mircea Andreescu) and Tiberiu Manescu (Ion Sapdaru). What they find, in a comedic examination of revolution, is that many Romanians question whether Vaslui had any role at all in the revolution.
12:08 East of Bucharest

What to Know

Critics Consensus

With a witty script full of satirical overtones and dry humor, 12:08 East of Bucharest is a thoroughly enjoyable Romanian comedy.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 07/05/2023
Porumboiu keeps his perspective: calm but not impassive, skeptical but not cynical, he reinforces an air of normalcy and an essential fearlessness that characterize life since the fall of the tyrant. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 12/04/2007
Dry comedies from eastern Europe tend to cast a skeptical eye on anything and everything, which is certainly the case with Corneliu Porumboiu's debut feature. Go to Full Review
John Monaghan Detroit Free Press 11/30/2007
2/4
12:08 East of Bucharest is easier to admire than enjoy, funnier to describe than actually watch. Go to Full Review
Kevin Jagernauth The Playlist 12/07/2013
A
...12:08 East Of Bucharest doesn't pretend to have a position on the fallout of the Romanian Revolution. Instead it contends that different questions need to be asked and considered about post-Communist life... Go to Full Review
Jennie Kermode Eye for Film 12/07/2007
4/5
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Audience Reviews

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S R @ScottR 06/02/2024 Saw it for it's title alone and it surprised me. Showed me a side of Romania I had never seen and the wry humor and cynicism were at times painful. It did take on some fascinating issues of what a revolution is all about and what makes a revolutionary, but the plot culminated in a bizarre tv show that was a let down. RUS. See more Alec B 01/10/2024 An amusing dissection of how people try to contextualize major historical events they witnessed. See more dave s 01/22/2022 Set in the small city of Vaslui, a Romanian television host assembles a panel to discuss the role of the city in the national revolution that drove Nicolae Ceausescu from power in 1989. 12:08 East of Bucharest starts slowly and admittedly drags a bit over the first half, but the actual TV broadcast of the ‘debate' is comedy gold. Using primarily stationary cameras, a bland color pallet and grainy film stock, the movie has an appropriately austere look to it, complimented by the deadpan and dry performances from the entire cast. The laughs kick in when it becomes evident that the town may have played no role in the ousting of the dictator as those who recall the events begin to clash over their interpretation of the events of the day. The humor is subtle but undoubtedly effective in its execution. See more 02/25/2021 An amusing dissection of how people try to contextualize major historical events they witnessed. See more 08/08/2018 Winning Cannes Palme d'Or, this Romanian political satire commemorates the 1989 Romanian Revolution and the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu with a wry comedy following a hard-drinking history teacher, a Santa Claus-playing pensioner and an inept television journalist as they converge in a broadcast to discuss the myth of their hometown's involvement in the violent period, with self-deprecatingly slapstick consequences. See more 09/21/2017 Slow but hypnotically interesting. Wonderful details. See more Read all reviews
12:08 East of Bucharest

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Movie Info

Synopsis On the anniversary of the overthrow of President Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanian talk show host Virgil Jderescu (Teo Corban) arranges a program dedicated to analyzing the town of Vaslui's role in the revolution. He recruits a strange cast of characters to answer questions, including Emanoil Piscoci (Mircea Andreescu) and Tiberiu Manescu (Ion Sapdaru). What they find, in a comedic examination of revolution, is that many Romanians question whether Vaslui had any role at all in the revolution.
Director
Corneliu Porumboiu
Producer
Corneliu Porumboiu
Screenwriter
Corneliu Porumboiu
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
Romanian
Release Date (DVD)
Oct 9, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA)
$89.5K
Runtime
1h 29m