Tales from the Golden Age

Tales from the Golden Age is set in eighties Romania, a time when dictator Ceausescu’s rule was at its most extreme. Cristian Mungiu (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days), collaborating here with 4 other Romanian directors, avoids focusing on the more depressing aspects of this era and chooses instead to bring to life five hilarious urban legends from the period. Tales from the Golden Age brings prominence to the strange consequences of Ceausescu’s rule by highlighting the bizarre situations that many people found themselves in (such as how to kill a pig for the festive season without arising suspicion from the neighbours). This is laugh out loud comedy which expertly recreates the time period and beneath its light-hearted surface there is also an important observation about the effects of dictatorship.