Acasă Articole RTR California Dreamin’ (Endless): o parodie a societății românești în tranziția spre capitalism
California Dreamin’ (Endless): o parodie a societății românești în tranziția spre capitalism
Rezumat
California Dreamin’ (Endless): Parody of Romanian Society in Transition to Capitalism
Abstract: The article explores how the film California Dreamin (Endless), directed by Cristian Nemescu and inspired by a true story, offers a tragicomic picture of Romanian society during the transition to capitalism, a period full of internal and international conflicts. I was interested in the way this film artistically supports the psycho-social profile of Romanians, resulting from research such as Daniel David’s book Psihologia poporului român [The Psychology of the Romanian People]. Using comedy, the film expresses a critical attitude towards Romanians, pointing out the mismatch between their opinion of themselves and reality, their way of relating to foreigners (in this case Americans), the need to make a favorable impression to compensate for low self-esteem, indiscipline and emotional instability. We also show how the confrontation between the protagonists (the stationmaster and Captain Jones) can be explained based on Karpmann’s dramatic triangle. The differences between Romanian and American culture, kitsch and inadequacy are important sources of humor in this film, and humor, in turn, can be understood from a psychoanalytic perspective as a benign form of overcoming frustration and finding solace.
Keywords: cinema, Romanian New Wave, capitalism, social transformations, humour, kitsch, inadequacy, super-ego
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