Silent Wedding (2008)

One of my all time favorites.

Instant Favorite.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

An incredible tragicomedy, which brings tears into one's eyes, both of laughter and grief.The film appeals to the whole set of emotions a person can feel. It embraces the Romanian spirit into its smallest details and its deepest inherent leitmotifs, from the town's mute to the town's whore, from the typical Romanian town saloon to the typical Romanian wedding. Sudden transitions from funny situations to tragic ones and back to comical throughout the film give you a roller-coaster sensation. And all this is 'garnished' with apparitions of death represented as a bride, inserted in the most discreet way possible. These apparitions are the only clue that you receive about the ending. And you don't need more.All I can say is this film made me proud of Romanian cinematography.

Despite the favorable comments left here by other users, I think that watching this film was a total waste of time. About 45 minutes pass by before the main story even begins. Thus way too much time is wasted introducing the audience to every single character. The film jumps from genre to genre without bothering to resolve every storyline it begins. At one point you may expect this to develop into a crime story, but you can only guess who the perpetrator was. The next moment the film seems to turn into a horror story but after only two scenes that storyline ends without being resolved properly. The key scene may lead you to believe that this film was intended to be a comedy. The actors had to mime everything during that part. But sometimes you can almost "see" the director telling everyone to look right / left / up or down - the whole thing is not exactly acting at its best. The comedy part ends and drama kicks in. Obviously the film makers couldn't make up their mind! The basic story line might have been turned into an interesting film, but unfortunately this chance was wasted.

A small town. A happy young couple about to be wed. A tight community ready to celebrate this happy event. All is well. Until a number of militant communists enter the town to declare a period of national mourning after the death of the party leader. After that the wedding party is forbidden and the community searches for a way to have it go on anyway. The solution is as dared as inventive as fun: the feast will go on but everything, including the music, will be in mime.And so starts one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time - the lives of the people, the loving community and the vividly happy pair are all somewhat pressured by the need to be silent, but are all still there oh so very clearly. As events roll on it is clear that the fun will not last forever, but it is as good as it can be while it is there.And there it is: a tragicomedy about the right event, at the wrong time, all wrapped in a long back flash which in my eyes is only added to the film to lengthen it a bit. It could have been somewhat better if that part had not been there and the actual wedding party had been done longer. But it's still a great film and it adds a good warmth to the heart.9 out of 10 silenced laughters

The story is an interesting one, especially for those who know a little more about communism and the horrible things communists did to people. Unfortunately, the movie is not, by far, as good as the story. Maybe it was intended this way, but, to me, it looks like an amateur movie. The actors did their jobs just fine, but the movie seems to be made out of pieces, as if it was too long and they had to cut a little bit here and there to make it fit. So the action is full of inconsistencies. In the end, I have just had the feeling that there should have been more. I didn't get attached to any of the characters, as I usually do when I really like a movie, and the compassion I felt for the people in the village was completely wiped out by the misplaced scene in the end of the movie.The story is a very painful one, and it's a shame that the movie is only scratching the surface!