Michael the Brave -- Nicolaescu (1970) - Part I

Mihai Viteazul -- Sergiu Nicolaescu (1970)

"An epic fresco depicting the reign (1593-1601) of Mihai Pätrascu (better known as "Mihai Viteazul" / "Michael the Brave"), the famous prince who united the three provinces: Transalpine Vallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia, into the country of Romania, at the end of the 16th century (1599-1601) against the opposition of the Ottoman and Austrian Empires, this movie features large scale battle scenes mixed with political intrigues, murderous treachery, and family drama."

"First, it's the battle scenes. They don't come bigger than these and nobody can't take that away from Nicolaescu. He is THE master! Back then, when a movie of such girth was made in Romania, everybody got into it, from the head of state to the Army, so sky was the limit.

I think the grandest scene of the movie is the one depicting the Turkish army in the marshes of Calugareni on August 13 1595. On that day, the all-mighty Ottoman Empire, in its heyday at that time, poured 120,000 soldiers into Wallachia to conquer it. Imagine filming that! Nicoleascu shot from a helicopter. It started from the back, with the scattered extras forming the rear guard and gradually progressing towards the front. The scale is huge and mind you, he actually used that amount of people, not the CGI tricks of "Gladiator". Just think of the props and coordinating those guys on a hot day of summer in the middle of a swamp.

On the other side, as in every portrayal of a legendary figure, the hero hasn't the least of flaws: he is always brave (actually Mihai Viteazul means Michael the Brave), honest, nothing gets by him, always gives a moralizing speech before the battle yada yada. Man, didn't guys like Mihai or William Wallace ever had the slightest trace of egocentrism ? In that respect, there is another movie about Mihai Viteazul, called Buzduganul Cu Trei Peceti (The Mace With Three Seals), in which the hero actually has feelings, flaws and fears. Of course, it's directed by someone else.

At times, the acting is childish, especially in face-offs, like badly rehearsed lines of a play. When it involves a third party, e.g. a soldier telling Mihai that one of his subordinates has just arrived, I can't help myself laughing at the poor timing of the actors. Oh, and it's always the same thing with Romanian scripts: no matter whether the character is a farmer or the Austrian Emperor, he always uses the same old precious and dusty lingo, something like saying "It gives me great pleasure to gaze upon your look" instead of plain "Oh I'm so happy to see you".

All in all, I think 'Mihai Viteazul' is a good movie by most standards. It's the Romanian movie most seen outside its borders and a must-see within." -- Alexandru Diaconu

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Michael
• the
• Brave;
• Mihai
• Viteazul;
• Sergiu
• Nicolaescu

[RealName007]

Is there an english translation to this movie or maybe a dubbing?

[Forgivensaved]

Păcat ca au murit atîția români săi țină pe jalații ăștia in afara țării... Acum musulmanii se infiltreaza subtil in întreaga lume. In special Europa ii primesc cu bratele deschise. Rușine!

[Jove89]

pot sa stiu si eu de ce americanii nu au acces la acest video? cunosc multi care ar dori sa vada acest film si nu-l gasesc subtitrat si in calitatea asta... ar trebui sa faceti filmul accesibil publicului larg. nu mai fiti snobi.

[vulturandrei]

omfg omfg omgf ce calitate video sa traiesti

[OfficialRENATO]

54:23 ==> good matte painting:)

[OfficialRENATO]

0:54:23 ==> good matte painting:)

[slonamu]

@vodvon

Thank you! I got confused becouse of the spiking, which Vlad Tepes has done too as far as I know. Great film by the way...

[vodvon]

@slonamu Michael the Brave is not Dracula. The one that is so called Dracula is Vlad Ţepeş.

[slonamu]

Wasn't that the real so called Drakula? In any case the Romanians and the rest of the Balkan countries have to be rememberd for their battles stoping the Turks. Now thouse monkies in Brusel are trying to let The Turks in Erope again...