It is a Romanian film that tells the tale of some US Marines on their way to Bosnia who are left standed in a small, remote Romanian village for a period of time.
This delights the villagers, particularly the Mayor and all the young "High School" village girls.
Armand Assante, the Marine Captain, meanwhile does everything he can to cut the stay short and complete their mission.
In some respects, California Dreamin' is similar to Milos Forman's exquisite, Loves of a Blonde.
There is much to love about this film. Here are some of my favorite things:
All the furious necking and making out between the soldiers and the village girls. It is played so romantically, yet so truthfully, as well. The reckless near-desperate abandon with which these young adults express their young, new, and inflamed love is so touching and pretty. And, of course, the poignant other side of that coin is the glum faces of the newly-made wallflower village boys.
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| Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered. |
Naturally, the prettiest girl in the village falls in love with the most handsome Marine. And of course, there is a young male classmate of hers who is hopelessly in love with her.
As the girl, played by the pixillating Maria Dinulescu, can not speak English she enlists the love-sick classmate to translate a conversation between her and the Marine. But the boy is so in love with her that he sabotages the translation playing the Marine off as a rowdy playboy.
This sabotage is unsuccesssful, much to the classmate's chagrin.
Right after this, the classmate's father tells his son to forget about Dinulescu, concentrate on college, move to Bucharest, and never return to this fucking village again.
Sadly, the director of California Dreamin', Cristian Nemescu, died before the film was totally complete. He was only twenty-seven. He did not leave us much but he did leave us this touching, bittersweet jewelbox of a film.
Very highly recommended.
Ardent
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