\n
\n<\/p>\n
Otto the Barbarian, filmmaker Ruxandra Ghitescu’s
\ndebut feature film, is in theaters across Romania as of September 24. Otto the
\nBarbarian saw its world premiere in the official competition as part of the
\nSarajevo International Film Festival’s 26th edition, and it was
\nselected as the best feature film in the TIFF Transylvania International Film Festival’s
\nsection Romanian Film Days. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The plot revolves around a 17-year-old punk teenager
\nwho grapples with the death of his girlfriend. The boy ends up captive in a
\nvicious circle created by his parents, his grandfather, his former lover’s
\nmother and the investigation carried out by the social services. In order to survive,
\nOtto will have to confront his feelings and his guilt. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to the film critic Victor Morozov, Otto is
\nthe most engaging Romanian film character in recent years, all the more so as
\nhe is guided by Ruxandra Ghitescu’s lenient gaze, which is everything a film character
\nmay wish for, when in a tight corner. As for Ruxandra Ghitescu, she hopes for Otto
\nthe Barbarian to be a film that will reward us all emotionally. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The film started off from an article she came across a
\ncouple of years ago and which focused on Octavian Albu, the film’s musical
\ndirector and the author of the original movie soundtrack, jointly with Cardinal
\nrock group. With details on that, here is Ruxandra Ghitescu herself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ruxandra Ghitescu: Yes, well, I was trying to find a
\ncontact point with adolescence, and I came across an article about Octavian Albu,
\nwho had been nicknamed Otto the Barbarian and to me, this encounter seemed a
\nvery fortunate one. As the frontman of a punk-rock group, with the entire
\noutward architecture of punk culture, it seemed to me that Octavian embodied
\nthe marginality of an age that is pretty much ignored in social interaction, in
\nfilm and also in literature. Octavian Albu was, from the very beginning, the
\nadviser for the soundtrack, he joined our team as a musical director, he and
\nCardinal group wrote most of the soundtrack, and together we picked up the
\nsongs on the soundtrack that belonged to other punk groups. I can say that, of
\nthe article that inspired the plot, only the name, the hairstyle and the jacket
\nsurvived. It is a fictionalisation with no connection whatsoever with Octavian’s
\nlife. In fact, we two met a couple of years after I had found the article, when
\nOtto was 23 already and a student in London, and he gave me the go-ahead to use
\nthe article as a source of inspiration. I got the impression he was very happy
\nthat we managed to make this film, he is a positive person and helped me a lot,
\nincluding with on the screenplay.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ruxandra Ghi\u0163escu set out to make a movie about adolescence
\nas an age of emotional turmoil and loneliness, an age when music plays an
\nessential part. At the same time, Otto the Barbarian speaks to teenagers and
\nparents alike, it is an invitation to dialogue about depression and its consequences.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ruxandra Ghi\u021bescu: From the very beginning our goal was to make a film that relies
\non emotion rather than on intelligence, especially because it focuses on this
\nage when emotion trumps reason. Otto is a very critical character, he is an
\nintrovert, he speaks very little, so his interactions with the others are a
\nresult of his emotions and feelings. We brought out the character’s entire
\nemotional journey in his various relationships-with his parents, with his
\ngirlfriend’s mother, with the videos left behind by his girlfriend, and above
\nall with music. I’m very happy to have caught a period when Otto the
\nBarbarian is screened in theatres and has contact with the audience, it is
\nonly now that I really feel I have made a movie. The entire year 2020, with the
\nrestrictions entailed by the pandemic, with the film-going experience abandoned
\nso easily, was very painful for me, and I imagine it was the same for others as
\nwell. so I enjoyed the experience of these festivals, the contact with the
\npublic and the experience of watching a film on screen in a cinema hall.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\nRuxandra Ghi\u021bescu paints a loving portrait, not
\nwithout its surprises and some spectacular acting, writes critic Georgiana
\nMu\u0219at about the film produced by Alien Film jointly with Polar Bear and Alien
\nFilms Entertainment.The cast
\nincludes Marc Titieni, Adrian Titieni, Ioana Bugarin, Ioana Flora, Mihaela
\nS\u00eerbu, Iulian Postelnicu, Ana Radu, and the late Constantin Dr\u0103g\u0103nescu. Ana
\nDr\u0103ghici was the director of photography and Dana Bunescu was in charge with
\nthe editing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Otto the Barbarian saw its world premiere as part of the Sarajevo International Film Festival<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":163465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44685],"tags":[45082,44871,29241,35798,45084,45085,45083,30412],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-163464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-of-culture","tag-barbarian","tag-feature","tag-film","tag-otto","tag-punk","tag-rock","tag-teenager","tag-tiff"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n