''Oglinda'' ("The Mirror"), also known as ''Începutul adevărului'' ("The Beginning of Truth"), is a controversial 1993 film by

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n director Sergiu Nicolaescu. It depicts

Romania during World War II Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania under King Carol II officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political up ...

, focusing on the

Royal Coup Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

of 23 August 1944 that toppled

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who mad ...

, the Axis-allied ''

Conducător ''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu. History The word is derived from the Ro ...

'' and

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Cast

* as

* as Michael I of Romania * Gheorghe Dinică as Mihai Antonescu * as Iuliu Maniu * George Constantin as

Andrey Vyshinsky Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky (russian: Андре́й Януа́рьевич Выши́нский; pl, Andrzej Wyszyński) ( – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat. He is known as a state prosecutor of Joseph ...

*Sergiu Nicolaescu as

Johannes Frießner __NOTOC__ Johannes Friessner (22 March 1892 – 26 June 1971) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Biography Born in Chemnitz, Saxony, Friessner ...

* as

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

*Peter Wolf Joachim as Joachim von Ribbentrop * Șerban Ionescu as Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu * George Alexandru as * as

Mircea Ionnițiu Mircea Ionnițiu (sometimes incorrectly spelled "Ioanițiu" or "Ioannițiu") (born date unknown, Bucharest – November 13, 1990, Woodland Hills, California, United States) was a Romanian writer, author of memorial notes. In his adolescence, h ...

Ștefan Iordache Ştefan Iordache (; 3 February 1941 – 14 September 2008) was a Romanian actor. Iordache was born in Calafat. In 2006, he was voted the best actor in Romania. He died, aged 67, in Vienna, Austria. Selected films *''Inimă de țigan'' (2007 ...

as Eugen Cristescu *

Dorel Vișan Dorel Vișan (; born 25 June 1937) is a Romanian actor. He has appeared in 65 films since 1974. He was nominated for the award of Best Actor at the 1988 European Film Awards. He was born in Tăușeni, Cluj County. In 1965 he graduated from the ...

as Petru Groza * Mitică Popescu as Dumitru Săracu *

Emil Hossu Emil Hossu (; 24 November 1941 – 25 January 2012) was a Romanian actor. Hossu was born into a Greek-Catholic family in Ocna Sibiului, Sibiu County. He was a well-known actor of stage and screen in the 1980s and 1990s, having performed in ...

as Colonel *Ion Lupu as General Constantin Sănătescu * Vladimir Găitan as Dinu Brătianu * as * Iurie Darie as Iorgu Ghica * as SS-Standartenführer * as Gheorghe Brătianu * as Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin * as

Maria Antonescu Maria Antonescu (born Maria Niculescu, also known as Maria General Antonescu, later Maria Mareșal Antonescu, or Rica Antonescu; 3 November 1892 – 18 October 1964) was a Romanian socialite and philanthropist and the wife of World War II author ...

Olga Bucătaru Olga Bucătaru (March 27, 1942, Suceava – April 10, 2020, Bucharest) was a Romanian film and stage actress. She graduated in 1965 from the Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film. In 2002 she was awarded the National Order of Faithful ...

as Queen Mother Helen * as Baron Manfred von Killinger *Liviu Crăciun as General

Aurel Aldea Aurel Aldea (18 March 1887 – 17 October 1949) was a Romanian general, Interior Minister, and anti-communist resistance leader. Education Aurel Aldea was born in Slatina, Olt County on 28 March 1887. He graduated from the Artillery and Enginee ...

* Traian Stănescu as Constantin Titel Petrescu *Petru Moraru as

Teohari Georgescu Teohari Georgescu (January 31, 1908 – December 31, 1976) was a Romanian statesman and a high-ranking member of the Romanian Communist Party. Early life Born in Chitila, near Bucharest, he was the third of seven children of Constantin and An ...

* as

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Part ...

* as Corneliu Coposu * Paul Ioachim * as Gheorghe Pintilie *

Constantin Drăgănescu Constantin Drăgănescu (27 September 1936 – 26 March 2020) was a Romanian actor. He appeared in more than fifty films since 1972. Selected filmography References External links * 1936 births 2020 deaths Romanian male film actors ...

as Intelligence Service agent *Virgil Popovici — General

Reactions

The film was criticized as being apologetic of Antonescu, whom it portrays as a martyr figure, without mention being made of his complicity in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

(''see

Holocaust in Romania The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...

'').Liz Fekete
"Nostalgia for War-time Dictator Grows"
, in '' Independent Race and Refugee News Network'', May 1, 1994 Radu Ioanid, "Romania", in David S. Wyman, Charles H. Rosenzveig (eds.), ''The World Reacts to the Holocaust'',

Johns Hopkins University Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publ ...

, Baltimore & London, 1996, p.251. ''Oglinda'' is also sympathetic to Antonescu's Nazi German ally

, who is depicted as a calm and wise politician. Nicolaescu himself claims that journalist

Octavian Paler Octavian Paler ( or ; July 2, 1926 – May 7, 2007) was a Romanian writer, journalist, politician in Communist Romania, and civil society activist in post-1989 Romania. Biography Octavian Paler was born in Lisa, Brașov County. He was educated ...

labeled it a "

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

film".Presentation of ''Oglinda''
o
Sergiu Nicolaescu's official site
/ref> The film was also criticized for several other errors. Historian and former public servant

Neagu Djuvara Neagu Bunea Djuvara (; 18 August 1916 – 25 January 2018) was a Romanian historian, essayist, philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. Biography Early life A native of Bucharest, he was descended from an aristocratic Aromanian family ...

, who in 1944 represented Antonescu's government to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, where he contacted the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

representative Alexandra Kollontai and unsuccessfully negotiated an

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

, rejected the film's allusive take on these events, which claimed that Romania's special requests had been ignored by their counterparts, and called it "a lie". According to Sergiu Nicolaescu, former King of Romania Michael I, the main decision factor behind Antonescu's deposition, objected to his character being depicted as a heavy smoker. Speaking in 2008, Djuvara criticized ''Oglinda'' in its entirety for mystification, while expressing similar reserves in respect to Nicolaescu's 2008 project, a biographical film on Michael's ancestor, Carol I of Romania (''

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

''). Nicolaescu's 1993 production received negative assessments from several film critics. As part of his commentary on Nicolaescu's entire filmography, beginning with films he produced under the communist regime, Valerian Sava depicted Nicolaescu as an untalented director caught in a "megalomaniac trance", and deemed ''Oglinda'' "a rudimentary historical reenactment". A similar overview was provided by , who described "the honor of a dueler", a cliché which he believed was characteristic of ''Oglinda'' as well as its predecessors '' Mihai Viteazul'' and '' Nemuritorii''.
"Pistoliada – ultimul fum, ultimul cartuș..."
in ''

Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. ...

'', Nr. 420-421, April 2008 Nicolaescu defended his film, claiming that its critics were "afraid to look in the face of history." He referred to ''Oglinda'' as "real history, without any form of restriction", and "the first and only Romanian

political film Political cinema, in the narrow sense of that portray current or historical events or social conditions through a partisan perspective in order to inform or to agitate the spectator. Political cinema exists in different forms, such as documentar ...

." He also maintained that Corneliu Coposu, a first-hand witness to the events, applauded the film upon its premiere.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Films directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu Political drama films Romanian World War II films 1990s Romanian-language films 1993 films 1993 drama films Romanian historical films