The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

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Audience Member With the exception of the opening and closing footage the movie is entirely built around "The official narrative" of Ceausescu's reign. You'd think that the lack of inclusion of any footage of the struggle of the Romanian people would minimize the crimes against humanity that happened there however the movie clearly shows the shift in Ceausescu's policies from standard authoritarian Communism to a more Maoist/North Korean cultural revolution which, if you know anything about history, shows the disturbing complete denial of reality by these leaders. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member It's such a bold choice to just let all this footage speak for itself, devoid of any narrative, but it makes for a tough document that might be understandable only to those who already have a strong knowledge of Ceausescu's reign. The film aimed high with its ironic title, but I felt like I wasn't in on the joke; I'm not sure I'd rather have been led by the nose like in a Michael Moore documentary, but I could have done with at least a little framing or context. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member The "directors' of this film have decided that showing raw footage of speeches, visits of world leaders and general propaganda provides the viewer with the true history of Nicolae Ceausescu. What it does provide is an artificial sense of the man without providing any context of the battle between an autocratic leader and his people. This one begs for commentary. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review walter m Exclusively using archival footage, "The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu" details the reign of the Romanian leader from his rise to power in 1964 to his calamitous fall in 1989. The highlights include a supremely ballsy repudiation of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Nixon's visit in 1969 which proved the old adage that only Nixon could go to Romania.(There's a Futurama joke in there, I suspect.) All of which along with Romania's warm relations with Communist China paved the way for its independence in the Eastern Bloc. The irony is that per the film's title this is probably the rosy way that Ceausescu saw things when in fact the reality was much, much worse, as he was in fact quite a repressive leader. Admittedly, accusing him of genocide was probably taking it a little too far. At the same time, that same irony almost escaped me, until I did a little online research.(Thanks, Wikipedia!) And considering that the average attention span is 5 to 10 minutes, I wouldn't probably be the only one. That's not to mention those people still living in Romania who currently think back on Ceausescu's reign as being the good old days. And then there is the small matter of aesthetics wherein the documentary's lackadaisical editing makes it almost seem like it would best be suited to be streamed on the side of a wall in a museum. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review s r A documentary that does not hold your hand, but tests your knowledge of powerful world government leaders while unfolding a mostly stimulating visual history of Romanian communism. It is long, but nevertheless well edited and fascinating. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Communism is all about face. Or so the film says. It is interesting, of course, to see footage from all over the world, and the most interesting one must be from North Korea. But to call it "The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu"? I will take the title as ironic. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

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