Lucian Bratu’s forgotten crowd-pleaser from Communist Romania gets a well-deserved exposure thanks to the bits and pieces featured extensively in the latest agit-prop from Radu Jude, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World. It is an unexpected opportunity to reconsider this bittersweet gem about a divorced, jaded and refreshingly cynical female taxi driver free-wheeling through a traffic-jammed routine. That is until she bumps into a new love interest. On the surface it may look like a social(ist) dramedy of its time, embracing the clichés of most women’s lives. What lies underneath though is a work of quiet subversiveness and subtle feminism that recalls a certain, less obvious Scorsese movie: just like Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dorina Lazar’s magnetic presence and flair for heart-tugging warmth make for a rewarding ride.

Screening as part of the 18th edition of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema