The Reenactment

The Reenactment (Romanian: Reconstituirea), also known as Reconstruction, is a 1968 black-and-white film by Romanian director Lucian Pintilie. It is based on a novel by Horia Pătrașcu, which in turn reflects real-life events witnessed by the author. Produced under the communist regime, which it indirectly criticizes, it is a tragicomedy about incompetence, indifference and misuse of power. Structured as a film within a film and largely shot as a mockumentary, The Reenactment stars George Constantin as a prosecutor who keeps in custody two minor delinquents, Vuică and Nicu, played respectively by George Mihăiță and Vladimir Găitan. He makes them reenact their drunken brawl at a restaurant, and is helped in this effort by the militiaman Dumitrescu (played by Ernest Maftei) and a film crew. Two bystanders watch upon the youngsters' degradation at the hands of the prosecutor. They are The Miss (Domnișoara in the original), played by Ileana Popovici, who is amused by the succession of events, and the pedantic alcoholic Paveliu (Emil Botta).

The recipient of much critical acclaim and considered in retrospect one of the most notable contributions to Romanian cinema, The Reenactment was released at a time when the communist regime was in its liberalization phase, coinciding with the first decade of rule by Nicolae Ceaușescu. Nevertheless, its political implications irritated communist officials, and the censorship apparatus decided to withdraw the film from cinemas only months after its premiere. In 1969, Pintilie was pressured to work outside Romania, and focused mainly on stage production for the following twenty years of his career. The Reenactment was again screened at home in 1990, one year after the Romanian Revolution toppled communism.