Serenade for the 12th Floor

In a country where apartment buildings have between 4 and 8 floors for a lack of qualified civil engineers, here you have the 12th.

This is a romanticized vision of the change. Because many refused to live their unsanitary petty dwellings, the communists have went this far to make it interesting. After all, living in the high rise ghetto mean cleaner homes with more light. For some that was the first chance to have running water and indoor toilets. That also meant learning to live in a community and learning how to use to communal facilities. Some 40 years later people still find that hard to do.

Because of the ambivalence of the production team this film does not touch any of the issues not found on the TO DO list. No reference to the conditions before the high rise. Yet you get Toma Caragiu preaching for the communist ownership from the first scene. A few very light references to the community that would form in the high rise. And also the funny scenes ripped off some foreign movie. After all, nobody but cops and military can handle guns. And they don't take it home. Yet Cotescu's character has a hunting gun and he is not afraid to threat the neighbors. But it is all in good spirit and nobody is calling the police.

Overall a waste of time that brought a good wage to few while in production.

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