Postcard from Cold Mountain

Six years ago, if you were trying to visit a film studio in Romania, the only choice would have been the Castel Film lot, a place where two warehouse-like buildings were hosting foreign film productions from the very low-budget range. The state owned Buftea film studios were almost deserted, and the film production in our country was getting closer and closer to a complete shut down. Today, if you are using a search engine over the net using the key words »Romania« and »movies«, the response is almost overwhelming.
        The recent wrapping of the production for Cold Mountain, Anthony Minghella’s $80-million movie slated for release at the end of this year, attracted a lot of attention. Every article about Nicole Kidman these days (and there are a lot of those, with all the critical acclaim garnered by her performance in The Hours) mentions her willingness to endure very harsh filming conditions during the seven months shot in Romania. Renee Zellwegger (who is also very much in demand after the success of her performance in the theatrical version of the musical Chicago) was quoted mentioning several times the cold she endured while filming in Romania at the end of last year.
        But the interest sparkled by these bits of gossip is just the tip of the iceberg. You won’t read any time soon in Variety that »Romania is the new destination for run away productions,« but there is some truth in it. The decision to film Cold Mountain here (as opposed to other options envisaged by the producers: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Ireland) had a lot to do with the unspoiled scenery and the similitude between the land described by Charles Frazier in his bestseller and the Transylvanian area. But the experience gained by the Romanian production teams and the film professionals during these last years weighed heavily too.

        Before the Miramax production landed here, there were some other similar successes. In fact, Miramax was not the first attempt to work with Castel Film. The critically panned Highlander: Endgame was also shot on sets and in locations provided by Castel, and the only good things said about the movie were related to the production values, the sets and the costumes. Before that, another Christopher Lambert movie, Beowulf was filmed here, mainly in an impressive medieval-looking castle, built from scratch by local craftsmen. The other big production facility, Mediapro Studios (the rescued and revamped Buftea Studios), has hosted two major productions of late: Costa Gavras’s Amen. and Franco Zeffirelli’s Callas Forever.
        Increasingly the talent of the Romanian crews is enhanced by the experience gained by working with seasoned professionals from all over the world. The filming facilities are getting better and better. In the last couple of years, the production of Romanian films has also increased. Government legislation has started to be a little friendlier toward foreign productions (although there is a long way before things are really worked out). Most of the young persons working in this area are fluent in English. And the price tag is consistently smaller than anything similar available in other Central European countries. Last but not least, almost all the professionals who worked here (both cast and crew) have good memories about this country, despite minor set-backs like the weather or the food.

Prague, Sidney, or Toronto have nothing to fear for now ­ but, if things will keep on going better, they had better watch out.

Ada Roseti