Usturoi (2014)

• Year: 2014
• Released: 28 Apr 2016
• Country: United States, Romania, Netherlands
• Adwords: N/A
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3627572/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/usturoi
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p,
• Language: Romanian
• MPA Rating: N/A
• Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
• Runtime: 90 min
• Writer: Radu Bazavan
• Director: Lucian Alexandrescu
• Cast: Sebastian Topan, Darius Stoica, Elena Ivanca
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7.4/10

Usturoi Storyline

A Gypsy boy of the Onion clan and his Romanian friend in a village lost in Transylvania decide to flee to the big city to become actors. This seems the best way to get some easy money to rid themselves of the excruciating poverty and help the Onion clan’s older brother get a dowry and marry the daughter of the rich Garlic clan. The two young boys run away from school, in an attempt to create a better life for themselves and their families. The road is beset with adventures as they scour rural Transylvania and its picturesque landscape.—Radu Bazavan

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Usturoi Movie Reviews

A Wonderful Comedic Story of Romeo & Juliet from the View of His Brother

Even for one who speaks no Romanian, the subtitles often seem superfluous. The impressive acting and wonderful direction convey meaning without the need for spoken words. Who am I to write a review; just a fellow photographer lucky enough to have been invited to a screening. What is “Garlic?” – Nothing more than a timeless “Romeo and Juliet” written into a modern setting yet addressing age old problems in the language of two naïve but intuitive preteen boys. It is a tragedy reinvented as a comedy through the antics of the younger brother and his best friend. Not since Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn has the camaraderie of two boys from disparate backgrounds in a small community represented a microcosm of contemporary society. The boys’ perception of the “irrational” adult world leads them to find a solution to their problem that may seem funny yet is completely logical in a Lewis Carroll sort of way; sending them on the way in their “cross-country” adventures and on to new discoveries which add a surprise twist to the plot. The story is presented in a novel way which can only be described as a docucomedy as in docudrama with a comedic twist.

Hidden Treasures

I mean, who would expect a treasure hidden within a comedy? Transylvanian Garlic seems to me such a treasure. It makes one laugh, and laugh with great joy, but it also shows some wonderful Romanian landscapes, great old music, a way of life that mixes ancient rituals with up-to-date technology and the amazing beauty of people everywhere. The magic of the local speech is lost in translation, but the rest is easily accessible. The very fabric of these people’s life is brought to the eye and it is charming. A straightforward celebration of life!

It made me think that this is what filming must have been originally: someone with a camera catching the sparkle of life around so that others might join in the appreciation of it. Stories and pictures. I think this is how Transylvanian Garlic was created. Add passion and talent and you get this fresh, funny, incredibly alive movie. If you get to talk with Radu Bazavan (the writer) or to Lucian Alexandrescu (the director) they might tell that all they wanted was people to have 90 minutes of fun. Don’t get fooled: they did much more than that. They make you feel so alive that when the movie ends you want to see it again right then.

Not your typical Eastern European movie

You might expect a movie from Romania to deal with heavy subjects such as corruption, poverty and organized crime.

“Usturoi” does none of the above. Instead, it’s a light-hearted and often hilarious road movie/mockumentary that follows the exploits of two boys (both played by impressive and talented child actors) from the Romanian countryside who are looking to make money in the big city for entirely unselfish motives.

Fast-paced and edited for optimal comedic effect by cutting back and forth between interviews with the movie’s main players and the story as it unfolds, it’s a feelgood movie from a region that too often has a “feelbad” reputation. Go see it!