This is the first movie by Porumboiu. It is sarcastic, witty, and humane. The revolution is the backdrop for the old theme that nothing changes much after all. The drab lives of the people remain drab, the Securitate bully is now the rich bully and the recollection of the revolution in the town turns out to be underwhelming. What redeems these sad truths are small acts of kindness and, of course, humor. I took three points off because the movie could have been put together better. The first half does not connect well with the TV interview. A better sequence would have been to start with the interview and put some scenes in the middle, back and forth. Also the script did not exploit fully the possibilities of what could have been a drama as well as a satire. I hope Mr. Porumboiu keeps at it.
Review of 12:08 East of Bucharest
