Cinema, Mon Amour

I've seen so many films that I can't name them all.

The first guy walks off.

The other guy doesn't follow him.

Now, he does!

They argue.

It's torn!

That's it! The End!

Orwo.

- How does it feel? - Yes, it's good.

My name is... Victor Purice.

I take care of this cinema.

I'd like to tell you the story of a child

who discovered his thirst for the movies.

A child who approached cinema slowly, step by step.

A cinema that opened in Piatra Neamt in 1970.

He was one of the first people to witness wonders!

He saw the opening of "Swan Lake" in 1970.

He fell in love with the big screen,

with stereo sound,

and he took a huge decision:

to dedicate his life to cinema.

Before the fall of Communism, there were over 400 cinemas in Romania,

all owned by the state company ROMANIA FILM.

Today there are less than 30 cinemas left in the entire country.

CINEMA DACIA in Piatra Neamt is one of them.

This is the entrance hall

to the Dacia Panoramic cinema.

Once upon a time...

people would queue right back here.

- One behind the other. - Queuing.

How do things look now?

Like this. Like the place is waiting.

This is where I spent

40-odd years.

We call it the projection booth.

- How many spectators are there? - Right now? Three.

But they're here! That's what matters!

Even if there's only one viewer, he is still the boss!

We're only here because of him.

If it weren't for him, we'd have to take up farming instead.

It's beautiful in Piatra Neamt, a fairy-tale city,

if you come once, you'll come back.

It's beautiful in Piatra Neamt, everything gleams,

this is where I was born, and where I'll stay.

This is crazy! It's wonderful!

- I can't carry on, boss! - What are you doing?

I've always wondered how they make movies.

Cucumber, something pickled!

Come on!

Coming boss! Just cutting up the pickles.

- If we're fasting, can we eat this? - Yes.

What about some butter on the potatoes?

- We don't have any. - No butter while we're fasting.

Look at all these delights!

It's clean.

See? It works like clockwork.

Purrs like a kitten.

- Now let's fix this one. - Which?

This one. It's dirtier.

It goes in the back.

Now for a quick breath of fresh airý

This is when people are supposed to come to the cinema.

It should be full! "Good evening!" "Hello!"

But people don't come anymore.

Only me, some crazy idiot.

I get a bit down when evening comes, see?

- Don't take it to heart! - It's impossible not to!

We could close up and go home. But why! It's nice here!

When I fall asleep in the morning...

Another sleepless night?

That's the way I've always been.

- Dacia Panoramic, right? - Yes.

- Dacia? - Dacia.

Hey, Nicu, "Dacia Panoramic", right?

Don't get it wrong!

Good morning.

We're back, with the guest of our live show, Mr. Victor Purice.

The director of the Dacia Panoramic cinema.

- Good to see you, it's been a while. - It's a pleasure to be back.

How are you doing? Surviving?

- Keeping the institution alive? - Yes, we're still alive.

I'm excited about the next generation.

- The younger generation? - Yes.

I want to keep them happy, no matter what.

By offering half-price tickets, for example.

That way, they'll stick with me.

Why has cinema fallen behind?

What are the challenges?

The internet? Television?

The challenges come from bad management.

When "Romania Film" took over,

they sold what they could.

- Only a few of them survived. - So they sold the cinemas?

They could sell them as they had good locations.

They carried on until they all vanished.

It's not dying and it's not surrendering without a fight.

As long as I'm around, we won't give up without a fight.

My congratulations on the work that you do.

I have a great team to work with.

- We're like one big family. - The "Dacia Panoramic" family.

Mum, Dad, Grandad, and the kid!

Let's try the managing director. Where is he?

Let's call my boss.

If he won't call me, I'll call him!

- Was he meant to call? - No. He was meant to come here!

He'll see that I called.

I'm disappointed he didn't reply, but he'll call back.

Maybe it's too early for him.

10 a.m. isn't a good time for politicians.

He'll be enjoying a coffee, he won't be thinking about me.

But one day he will!

God has his ways.

- Can you see me? Hello? - No, I can't see you.

- I can't hear you. - Can you hear me now?

When you get back, there might be a surprise: a 3D cinema!

Will they put up a statue in your honor?

There'll be all kinds of things!

3D? Before you get 3D you'll need to clean the place up

and get rid of the rats!

3D is the last thing you need!

Look at my little grandson!

It's breaking up.

The signal is breaking up.

Clean the house. I bet it's a disaster! We'll see!

I'm all alone! Sorry!

Ciao Cristi!

Bye!

The image is terrible!

- It's not the green icon. - It's the yellow one?

Yes, let's move this here...

Now it's supposed to turn white. See?

Yes, you said something about that, but I didn't understand.

That's it.

- The image is crooked. - I'll fix it later.

Isn't it too low?

When we first screened "Titanic", we had 907 people here.

- So many? - 907.

I'd never seen so much money in my life.

- Are you loading the film reel? - They don't use film any more.

They do, but film is expensive,

so they released it on Blu-ray.

- It's much better this way. - It uses less electricity.

But when we finish renovating, we'll only have professional equipment.

Time, don't be cruel!

Let us be high school kids a little longer...

Now comes the scene in the water.

With the history teacher.

I know this film by heart.

I've seen "Star Wars" countless times.

We played under the living room table.

Our father made us light-sabers.

With Christmas tree lights.

My brother and I used to fight. We both wanted to be Luke Skywalker.

We also liked the film "Mother".

We'd roll around under the table.

My sister never wanted to play with us.

She was younger and had her dolls.

Just as we're finishing, my back starts hurting!

- What? - My back hurts.

I'll do the projection booth before the film ends.

I'm repairing front of the cinema.

That's life! What else can I do!

Otherwise it'll fall off on people's heads.

I'm not the owner. But it's mine for now.

Come on, let me finish here, then I'll clean the house.

You won't come home to find a mess. Bye.

My wife! "Purice, you've gone crazy again!"

- How does it look from down there? - Great!

Superb! Belissima! Jolie!

If you don't say that, who else will?

When I get down I'll tell you whether it's great or not.

- Come on, Lori! - Calm down!

- It's no good when it's cold! - Hot food gives you wrinkles!

Mamma mia, what a feast!

We're eating out! We work here, eat here...

- Like a picnic! - Right.

- You sold the tickets, right? - Yes.

Go and tear off the tickets.

Let's eat first.

- Want to make a bet? - No.

What time is it? Want to make a bet?

What about? I'm in. What do you want to bet on?

I bet I'll finish painting the sign tonight.

- What time is it? - 6:40 p.m.

- Italy, right? - Yes.

Good evening, my love. I'm at the cinema, as always.

I've repaired part of it, I've set up scaffolding.

It's tough.

I'll be busy for the next two weeks.

Who else would do it? It'd fall on people!

It's raining, I get wet, then it's sunny. I get wet, cold...

I've not finished the job. How are the kids?

Aren't they coming home? No?

Aren't they coming home?

Why not?

During the summer holidays,

CINEMA DACIA will run films for kids at 12 p.m.

You are in charge of this.

- Can they move closer? - Of course. The theatre is all theirs.

One-two, one-two.