The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu starts with the familiar, grainy and juddering shoulder-held images of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena just before their execution. What follows is beautiful archival footage of state visits, party congresses, visits to crowded stores. In the course of the film – the subdued and radical masterpiece lasts more than three hours – the manifestations show increasing signs of megalomania; people sing and clap for Ceausescu, his name is chanted during endless parades. There are beautiful colour shots of Ceausescu joining in a volleyball match. He stands by the net and with one hand he keeps pulling it down a little to try and get the ball over with his other hand. No one dares to say a word.
There is no narration or music and the most basic information (who, what, where, when) is also absent. The viewer has to decide at which moment Ceausescu finally loses all contact with reality, the moment when the idealist turned into a monster.

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