Portrait of a fighter as a young man

This film looks at Romanians fighting communism in 1950's and shows them as disorganised and poorly trained people. The film has no story line to tell of but paints character portraits instead. The character portrait tell little about their background and where they come from. What it does look and portray is how scared, brave or fearless they were and whether they were stingy, nice, angry compassionate. So basic things people look at, search for and pick up in first impressions of some one. The film references the style and topic of James Joyce Portrait of the artist as a young man a semi-autobiographical novel that shows a series of portraits each showing Stephen at a different stage of development. On that aspect the director could be trying to show a series of portraits of the Romanian anti-communist fighters at different times of the Romanian secret service crack down on them.. That being on light crack down, medium crack down and the end a mixture of all three. The film shows this process all year round in the summer, spring and winter.

The film also portrays the young security service people through the training and induction of their commander and their interaction with the community. The commander is saying that the officers and corporals should not be rash and brutal minded as this creates distrusts and alleviates the cause of the rebels. Throughout the film he keeps on telling them that they all have to use their brains and try and communicate with the people. He says you should give them what they want with a deal that means they would return the favour. The guy continues to say that mindless torture does not help anyone. However this is not just a blind lecture but lecture from receiving the reports of what is going on during the execution of the Romanian communist parties policies. We are constantly shown events of things he does not want happening explaining to us that he informants who inform him of what is going on. The scene were talks about informants telling them what going on and how they should look after them is not just a instruction to his junior colleagues. It is warning to them that if they misbehave he will be told about it and he will protect those people as well and he means anyone.

The Film does not show any bias to any of the people it portrays. Though one can say it is bias to the Romanian anti-communist fighters as it shows them running wild all other country but that is what they doing and people [their family, friends and neighbours] had to endure this when they decided to help them shelter them or report them. This must have been hard on them as if they were found in their house, not only could they get killed or beating up but the person sheltering them could lose their house. As in particular scene shows the soldiers coming up and shooting the barn walls, doors and roofs when in the process of shooting one of the resistance soldiers. This horrifying and a serious threat to the communist party control of Romania who are busy trying to follow in the footsteps of their Russian counterparts. Another reason for bias is that they are praising and glorifying anti-communist fighters as they are the main focus. That is not so even though the film mentions them as fighters they are not the main focus and it is the Romanian security services that brand them as fighters. The film focuses on the land and what is happening it.

This is why throughout the 2 hour plus film it shows the Romanian environment, land, vegetation and forest. These are settings for film to show the Romanian freedom fighters moving around through winter , spring and summer tracking , hunting or being tracked or hunted by the Romanian security services. The film further more focuses at the devastation they can and have caused to place. The trampling and stamping of crops and grass. It shows the change of energy and atmosphere when they fight, cook, argue or talk. This then by realisation and thought makes the countryside and the mountains dangerous for anyone enjoy if they are not part of those two groups I have mention.

Also this allows you apply that type of atmosphere into current affairs like British and American soldiers being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan who are sometimes in the same situation as the Romanian rebels. This type of thinking makes gasp in shock and horror of what happens to those troops when they face Taliban in Afghanistan and Iraq. As those portraits of the Romanian fighters of them being disorganised and poorly trained have been complained about of the British an d American troops.

Understanding all that, the film is not good for a coherent storyline or is going to make you feel good about yourself. It is good if you want to do a critique of people and how they effect people and places being in the countryside, forest or the mountains. Of course it is good for people with knowledge of Romanian communist rule during 1950's-70's and is a light to people who want to study this period in Romanian's history. Though this is not good for people who want to learn about it through the film.