ROMANIA’S PAST ON FILM. THE CHALLENGES OF SUBTITLING

Abstract

In Romanian history, the darkest corners remain those in which communism crept in
unawares and, slowly but surely, grew hideously. The film Nuntă mută … şi întunericul a
venit de la răsărit… [Dumb Wedding … and the darkness came from the East…], directed by
Horaţiu Mălăele and released in 2008, captures one such moment with its impact on
individual lives. It goes against the grain (that is against the tradition of Romanian filmmaking, with its emphasis on brave monarchs and glorious events) and exposes the passive
acceptance of the disease which was to contaminate the Eastern European space for decades.