At 83 actress Dorina Lazăr features in new film and theater play

Actress Dorina Lazăr performs the leading role in the film Do not expect too much from the End of the World by Radu Jude, a film that is Romania's proposal for the 2024 Oscar Awards

Corina Sabău, 18.11.2023, 14:00

Dorina Lazăr, one of the most appreciated actresses in Romania, received this year the Excellence Award of the Radio Romania Culture Awards Gala. Appreciated by the public and critics alike, Dorina Lazăr has played dozens of roles, both in theater plays and films. As director of the Odeon Theater for almost 20 years, she always supported young artists and bet on innovative productions. At 83 years old, Dorina Lazăr returns to theater and film with two remarkable roles. She plays the leading role in Radu Jude’s new film, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, which premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Silver Leopard – Special Jury Prize, a Mention from the Ecumenical Jury and First Prize from the Youth Jury. The second memorable role of Dorina Lazăr this year is the main role in Neliniște – Unrest, a play by Ivan Vyrypaev, directed by Bobi Pricop.

The newest film written and directed by Radu Jude, Romania’s proposal for a nomination at the 2024 Oscar Awards, in the Best International Feature Film category, is a satire about the new Romanian capitalism, a road movie in which Angela (played by Ilinca Manolache) crosses a crowded and hostile Bucharest, a drama about a man paralyzed after an occupational accident, and also a comedy about the making of a labor protection film. We spoke with Dorina Lazăr about the role she plays in Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, about the film and montage, in which images from the production Angela goes on (directed in 1982 by Lucian Bratu, with Dorina Lazăr in the main role) enter into a dialogue with the images of the present.

It was an extremely pleasant and honorable experience for me, I was happy to meet Radu Jude and shoot the film with him. I worked with a wonderful team, I’m talking mostly about actors, extremely talented and conscientious. Angela Goes On is a very good movie and I highly recommend it. It’s a film that has stood the test of time, even though it was made during communism. A film in which the entire team of actors acted very well and it was directed with great delicacy by Lucian Bratu. The film’s script was written by Eva Sîrbu. It was actually written for the actress Rodica Tapalagă, but Rodica did not know how to drive, so it was decided to choose someone who had a driving license. And since I was driving a car, they cast me as Angela. Coming back to Radu Jude’s film, I thank him for being so gentle, it was great that I played the scenes with my old partner László Miske in the same apartment where I shot Angela goes on. And I noticed during the shoot that on the shelves in that room there were photos of me and László Miske from 40 years ago, when we made that film. I can’t tell you how good and valued I felt, it’s a pleasure to work with Radu Jude. Not to mention that he handles everything with ease.

Unrest is the fourth play written by Ivan Vyrypaev, a contemporary Russian playwright, theater and film director, screenwriter, producer and actor based in Poland and currently banned from theaters in his native country due to his anti-war stance. The play was staged by director Bobi Pricop at the Odeon Theatre. Similar to life, theater is and causes anxiety; each of us is a ball of anxieties that art, in all its forms, tries, and maybe even helps, to untangle says the director Bobi Pricop, who considers the role of Dorina Lazăr absolutely fantastic, of an overwhelming strength and scenic truth.

Here is next Dorina Lazăr, who plays the role of the writer Ula Richter: When I invited the director Bobi Pricop to stage a show at the Odeon Theatre, last year, I was still the theaters director. I asked Bobi Pricop to come up with some proposals, and he came up with this piece, Unrest by Vyrypaev. I asked him about the cast, and he told me that I would play the lead role. I immediately refused, I told him no. No, for two reasons. The first is that I have grown old and you never know when that time comes, so I wouldn’t want the theater to invest in a show that after that can’t be played anymore. Or I might lose my memory and it is very difficult to find someone to replace you in such a role. But when I read the text translated into Romanian – I had originally read it in English – I realized that I really like it and that no matter what happens, I want to play this role. And so, we hit the road with five more actors, all stars.

Nicoleta Lefter, Niko Becker, Alexandru Papadopol, Mihai Smarandache and Gabriel Pintilei complete the cast of the show Unrest, selected in the recent edition of the National Theater Festival. (LS)