00:00:11,182 -- 00:00:13,855
Bucharest 2008
2
00:00:15,502 -- 00:00:18,255
I don't wanna kick the bucket
too soon,
3
00:00:19,142 -- 00:00:22,214
but as long
as I'm staying here,
4
00:00:22,382 -- 00:00:25,294
I'll be a drunkard and a bastard.
'Scuse me...
5
00:00:40,782 -- 00:00:42,932
Has anything
ever hit you in the head?
6
00:00:45,142 -- 00:00:50,580
No, but it almost has. A woman
got hit with a crust of bread,
7
00:00:50,742 -- 00:00:53,540
hard as concrete...
Like that bottle over there.
8
00:00:53,902 -- 00:00:57,690
Good thing you've asked me, sonny!
That woman should tell you.
9
00:00:59,182 -- 00:01:05,860
You should have had that on film!
One more step, and...
10
00:01:12,702 -- 00:01:15,978
No, sonny, I had enough.
11
00:01:20,382 -- 00:01:23,215
A film by Alexander Nanau
12
00:01:50,342 -- 00:01:54,699
Mr. Popescu, on my word of honor,
I'm not crazy, I'm sober...
13
00:01:55,222 -- 00:01:57,782
I was dumb enough
to drink some brandy.
14
00:01:57,902 -- 00:02:01,133
I'm leaving all my works to you,
just take me out of there.
15
00:02:01,262 -- 00:02:03,378
Okay, but don't worry...
16
00:02:03,582 -- 00:02:06,619
We'll have a normal
artist-gallery owner relationship.
17
00:02:09,182 -- 00:02:12,936
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ION B.
18
00:02:43,702 -- 00:02:45,420
By Brldeanu, 1972.
19
00:02:48,342 -- 00:02:50,253
Works and everything...
20
00:03:09,662 -- 00:03:14,258
- Ion, "trash can"! Wake up!
- Shit...
21
00:03:20,142 -- 00:03:23,578
These dustmen
have never come so early...
22
00:03:24,262 -- 00:03:27,095
Open the dumpster, Ion.
Give it here.
23
00:03:29,502 -- 00:03:31,254
Open the dumpster.
24
00:03:58,102 -- 00:04:01,139
During communism,
you couldn't do anything, sonny.
25
00:04:01,302 -- 00:04:07,935
I think you weren't even born.
Sorry... How old were you in '83?
26
00:04:08,582 -- 00:04:10,254
- 4.
- Well...
27
00:04:13,302 -- 00:04:16,977
When you were my age,
how did you imagine life?
28
00:04:18,582 -- 00:04:21,813
I didn't believe in anything,
I thought I was immortal.
29
00:04:24,582 -- 00:04:29,576
I was handsome. I was a sort of...
Have you heard of Rudolph Valentino?
30
00:04:35,822 -- 00:04:38,541
Do you know why I am in such a state?
Because of my brothers,
31
00:04:38,662 -- 00:04:43,782
my parents and my mother.
I have a brother in the country.
32
00:04:43,902 -- 00:04:48,453
If you see him, he hasn't read
a book in all of his life.
33
00:04:48,742 -- 00:04:51,859
I've read a few things.
I'll tell you about Chekov.
34
00:04:52,182 -- 00:04:55,413
When I read Chekov...
I had found a booklet.
35
00:04:55,582 -- 00:04:59,575
You know, a great Russian writer...
He wrote "Ward No.6".
36
00:04:59,742 -- 00:05:01,892
I was put in an institution once,
it was a mistake.
37
00:05:02,022 -- 00:05:03,614
Some assholes put me in there.
38
00:05:03,742 -- 00:05:06,336
He was sleeping here,
on the stairs.
39
00:05:06,502 -- 00:05:09,494
Our super got pity of him,
and took him in here.
40
00:05:11,422 -- 00:05:16,098
Many of us were... They told him
"why did you bring him here?"
41
00:05:16,942 -- 00:05:19,979
And others were...
And he said something like
42
00:05:20,142 -- 00:05:26,138
"some keep dogs..., animals,
I'll keep a human being,
43
00:05:26,382 -- 00:05:28,532
why is it bothering you?"
44
00:05:33,462 -- 00:05:36,135
I met him when I came here,
almost 30 years ago.
45
00:05:36,262 -- 00:05:41,097
I found him here.
He was alone, he had no family.
46
00:05:42,342 -- 00:05:46,938
In time, I found that he had come
from somewhere in Moldova.
47
00:05:47,502 -- 00:05:50,062
He had run away from home.
48
00:05:59,862 -- 00:06:07,132
I'm from Vaslui, Zpodeni County.
Z-po-deni.
49
00:06:08,782 -- 00:06:10,500
You recording me?
50
00:06:18,502 -- 00:06:23,576
My father was a Stalinist.
I'm a self educated man.
51
00:06:24,702 -- 00:06:29,457
Now I'm just "bottle-educated".
Sorry, sonny...
52
00:06:36,422 -- 00:06:40,540
Come here...
Tigress, come here, girl.
53
00:06:47,862 -- 00:06:50,820
Mr. Alex, I hit her sometimes,
but she's still coming back.
54
00:06:51,022 -- 00:06:57,291
I met him by sheer miracle.
55
00:06:58,502 -- 00:07:04,532
On the 1st of December, last year,
in 2007, on Romania's National Day.
56
00:07:06,382 -- 00:07:11,934
Ovidiu Fenes, one of my artists,
came to the gallery.
57
00:07:12,742 -- 00:07:19,739
He seemed possessed "come with me,
I've got something to show you".
58
00:07:23,022 -- 00:07:28,221
There are about 900 collages,
that cover some sort of...
59
00:07:30,142 -- 00:07:34,055
They cover everything
from the 70s to the mid 90s.
60
00:07:34,742 -- 00:07:40,612
And everything is...
It's a well rounded work of art.
61
00:07:42,022 -- 00:07:45,935
It's any gallery owner's Graal.
62
00:07:52,982 -- 00:07:55,416
Why did you make
all these clippings for?
63
00:07:55,542 -- 00:07:57,419
For the collages.
64
00:08:01,182 -- 00:08:03,616
Do you know
how much I enjoy cutting them?
65
00:08:03,982 -- 00:08:05,938
But I also like to turn them
into collages.
66
00:08:06,102 -- 00:08:08,297
Cutting things is very hard work.
67
00:08:10,462 -- 00:08:13,260
During one single night, I can cut
as many as in this heap here.
68
00:08:13,382 -- 00:08:15,942
Where from?
Do you buy the magazines, or?
69
00:08:16,302 -- 00:08:19,738
I used to buy them, now people
just throw them in the garbage.
70
00:08:25,582 -- 00:08:27,812
Belmondo, when he was young.
71
00:08:30,622 -- 00:08:33,739
This one is from "Il Gattopardo".
Burt Lancaster.
72
00:08:38,142 -- 00:08:43,614
This one is a Rock singer, Prince.
And this is Liz Taylor.
73
00:08:49,222 -- 00:08:54,535
I wanted to be an actor.
I had the calling.
74
00:08:56,182 -- 00:08:59,174
Only a man that knows
what the secret life is,
75
00:08:59,302 -- 00:09:02,817
can be in the movies.
But now I'm a director.
76
00:09:03,302 -- 00:09:07,136
I've only later realized that
the most important is the director.
77
00:09:10,302 -- 00:09:17,617
Get it? Elia Kazan was a Turk
who went to America.
78
00:09:37,902 -- 00:09:39,733
That's it! Stop!
79
00:09:52,142 -- 00:09:56,897
I could've done the same thing,
but not as beautifully as he has.
80
00:09:57,742 -- 00:10:02,611
But, you know, only few
really acknowledge his talent.
81
00:10:03,582 -- 00:10:10,260
So, the right people don't know.
Listen, I'm going...
82
00:10:12,942 -- 00:10:15,615
- Where should I put the money?
- Here, in the...
83
00:10:15,742 -- 00:10:18,461
- You won't lose it, right?
- Thanks and bless you.
84
00:10:27,422 -- 00:10:30,971
I don't understand
what you want from him, really...
85
00:10:31,822 -- 00:10:34,859
- He's a very good artist.
- Maybe.
86
00:10:35,102 -- 00:10:38,253
But he has no ID, no nothing.
He's been here for 22 years.
87
00:10:38,542 -- 00:10:43,058
They took him in out of pity
and it's been 5-6 years now.
88
00:10:43,222 -- 00:10:45,941
Nobody put him to work.
The super wanted to set him up
89
00:10:46,102 -- 00:10:48,536
with an employment record,
so that he could have
90
00:10:48,662 -- 00:10:50,857
a retirement fund.
He refused it.
91
00:10:51,022 -- 00:10:54,810
You've asked me, I've answered.
He's a great artist!
92
00:10:56,342 -- 00:10:58,981
What can one do with a drunkard
who, most of the time,
93
00:10:59,142 -- 00:11:01,337
doesn't even know he's own name?
94
00:11:01,582 -- 00:11:04,050
You'll see, ma'am...
Come to the gallery.
95
00:11:04,182 -- 00:11:08,141
May God make him stop drinking.
Do as you think fit.
96
00:11:09,422 -- 00:11:12,459
Wow, you're all dressed up!
A real dandy!
97
00:11:12,582 -- 00:11:14,777
I don't want
the neighbors to see me.
98
00:11:15,502 -- 00:11:20,530
One of his problems was
the place he was living in.
99
00:11:21,182 -- 00:11:27,576
I've found him a studio where he
could live like normal people do.
100
00:11:29,422 -- 00:11:34,542
The yellow one. So this is it:
Red, yellow and blue.
101
00:11:35,462 -- 00:11:39,296
Starting from here, okay?
Red, yellow and blue, just like...
102
00:11:50,782 -- 00:11:52,340
Don't lose the keys!
103
00:12:05,342 -- 00:12:09,972
I'll be here for two more weeks.
I'm really cleaning the place up.
104
00:12:10,142 -- 00:12:14,613
- Why two more weeks?
- Well, 'cause... last night I...
105
00:12:15,382 -- 00:12:21,571
C'mon, pops!
Turn around! Al Capone...
106
00:12:48,902 -- 00:12:51,541
I'm neither Andreea Marin,
nor Rduleasca.
107
00:12:51,982 -- 00:12:55,611
I'm Ion Brldeanu,
collage director.
108
00:12:56,902 -- 00:13:00,178
Ion, first of all,
you have to tell me,
109
00:13:00,302 -- 00:13:03,977
roughly, at least...
When did you make them? 1990...
110
00:13:04,142 -- 00:13:06,576
Oh... I can't remember,
I'll estimate it.
111
00:13:06,702 -- 00:13:09,216
Yeah, estimate it. '90-'91.
112
00:13:09,342 -- 00:13:13,221
If I had know there was gonna be
an exhibition, I'd have signed them.
113
00:13:13,382 -- 00:13:18,410
Before... Last century, I mean...
I'd have never written my whole name.
114
00:13:18,582 -- 00:13:21,494
- I'd have put only '89, '80...
- Yes, exactly like that.
115
00:13:41,382 -- 00:13:42,815
'82.
116
00:13:48,182 -- 00:13:50,412
- Do you like this cardboard?
- Yes.
117
00:13:51,862 -- 00:13:55,411
- It needs...
- No, don't write your name there!
118
00:13:55,702 -- 00:13:59,854
I don't, I just wanna
cover it up a little bit.
119
00:14:01,582 -- 00:14:04,813
Now it's hard to write my name,
it has to be on the line.
120
00:14:05,342 -- 00:14:08,618
If I had a rubber stamp,
I wouldn't work myself so hard.
121
00:14:09,582 -- 00:14:11,220
It's better this way.
122
00:14:11,462 -- 00:14:14,340
Many people have asked me
about this timber here.
123
00:14:14,542 -- 00:14:19,980
I just measure it. I failed math,
but I'm pretty good with geometry.
124
00:14:21,182 -- 00:14:26,097
There are more dots over there,
and less over here.
125
00:14:26,262 -- 00:14:28,571
But I start at the centre,
so that it'd look
126
00:14:28,742 -- 00:14:32,530
like a real classroom.
And these are in pen, glued together.
127
00:14:34,342 -- 00:14:37,618
Here we have a Nazi Chaplin.
This is the real Brigitte Bardot.
128
00:14:37,822 -- 00:14:39,540
- Really?
- Really.
129
00:14:41,262 -- 00:14:43,822
This is "Gogu's Revenge".
130
00:14:46,662 -- 00:14:48,812
This one wanted to shoot him
with the Mauser.
131
00:14:48,982 -- 00:14:52,258
The Germans
had this gun during the war.
132
00:14:53,622 -- 00:14:57,535
The guy in jeans wanted to shoot Gogu
on the sauerkraut keg.
133
00:14:58,662 -- 00:15:02,211
But look at Gogu's precision.
Hadn't he thrown the axe in time,
134
00:15:02,342 -- 00:15:05,414
he'd be dead, that's for sure!
Bang!
135
00:15:08,662 -- 00:15:12,496
Lino Ventura, Steve McQueen,
Mircea Albulescu, Mircea Diaconu.
136
00:15:14,422 -- 00:15:19,542
- This one is a French actor.
- Unbelievable...
137
00:15:20,582 -- 00:15:23,255
At first, this was a drawing
and then...
138
00:15:25,542 -- 00:15:27,692
This one is taken
from a Turkish newspaper.
139
00:15:27,822 -- 00:15:33,897
He's a "squint-eyed", the quack!
The way he's holding the cigarette!
140
00:16:07,262 -- 00:16:10,060
I've been in this neighborhood
for more than 25 years.
141
00:16:10,222 -- 00:16:11,894
I still had my hair...
142
00:16:28,542 -- 00:16:31,932
If I'm going back to my village,
I won't even know my own folks,
143
00:16:32,142 -- 00:16:34,133
it's like I've been born here.
144
00:16:35,582 -- 00:16:38,301
I've lived in that building
for 22 years.
145
00:16:48,382 -- 00:16:52,091
- Why did you leave?
- Well, they threw my out.
146
00:16:56,302 -- 00:16:58,770
- Why?
- I was aggressive...
147
00:17:03,662 -- 00:17:06,540
I'll tell you about it,
but some other time. Not now...
148
00:17:09,382 -- 00:17:14,217
I've framed about 16 of them.
149
00:17:53,982 -- 00:17:57,691
He's the king of the magazines.
150
00:17:58,542 -- 00:18:02,694
He's been gathering stuff,
so he has enough to keep on working.
151
00:18:02,862 -- 00:18:06,059
As far as I understood,
he hasn't made anything in 10 years.
152
00:18:07,262 -- 00:18:10,891
After all these years,
I wanna make somethin' new.
153
00:18:13,782 -- 00:18:16,899
I don't wanna get rich,
I only want the bare essentials.
154
00:18:18,302 -- 00:18:21,453
But I'd really like
one of those basic bikes...
155
00:18:51,102 -- 00:18:53,491
What did you fear
the most in your life?
156
00:18:57,382 -- 00:19:00,579
Ceausescu!
Can't you see how much I love him?
157
00:19:04,782 -- 00:19:09,697
In '79-'80,
I started hating the communists.
158
00:19:12,862 -- 00:19:17,219
They put me in jail
'cause a grave digger denounced me.
159
00:19:19,782 -- 00:19:22,535
I was digging graves
without a permit.
160
00:19:22,702 -- 00:19:25,500
I can still dig a grave.
You don't need a degree for that.
161
00:19:26,462 -- 00:19:30,580
Those in Bucharest treated me as if
I was an international criminal.
162
00:19:35,982 -- 00:19:39,054
There was a captain Tamas.
A moron, with capital "M".
163
00:19:39,942 -- 00:19:42,172
He was in charge
of the collectivization
164
00:19:42,302 -- 00:19:44,611
in Zpodeni County,
just like my father, before him.
165
00:19:44,782 -- 00:19:49,094
They were mates.
And he said: "You, rascal,
166
00:19:50,742 -- 00:19:53,381
you've ashamed your father!
167
00:19:57,382 -- 00:19:59,622
You'll spent 3 months in jail!"
168
00:19:59,622 -- 00:20:03,297
Everything was very strict.
The smart ones had left the country.
169
00:20:04,302 -- 00:20:07,851
For years, I've earned my living
with the shovel, like a nitwit.
170
00:20:08,102 -- 00:20:11,538
And it wasn't only me...
There were engineers, too,
171
00:20:11,902 -- 00:20:16,817
doing all the hard work.
How am I not to like Ceausescu?
172
00:20:47,742 -- 00:20:51,582
These are my movies.
You really think
173
00:20:51,582 -- 00:20:55,780
they'll love me for them?
They'll be envious!
174
00:20:56,542 -- 00:20:58,897
- People?
- Some of the artists.
175
00:21:05,302 -- 00:21:07,691
Many will ask me
about my studies.
176
00:21:07,862 -- 00:21:10,934
Well, I have 7 school years,
two trade schools
177
00:21:11,102 -- 00:21:15,539
and I repeated one year.
For 16 months I've been in the army,
178
00:21:16,302 -- 00:21:19,055
for 3 in jail and, for the rest,
I've learned on my own.
179
00:21:19,222 -- 00:21:21,531
This is my university education.
180
00:21:30,342 -- 00:21:33,334
Gimme 10 Cotidian paper...
181
00:21:37,942 -- 00:21:39,341
Thanks...
182
00:21:55,622 -- 00:21:57,772
"Ion Brldeanu,
the Forefather of Pop Art".
183
00:21:57,902 -- 00:22:00,541
Can you explain it to me?
What's "Pop Art"?
184
00:22:02,022 -- 00:22:07,301
It's a contemporary art genre
which appeared in the 60s,
185
00:22:07,462 -- 00:22:12,855
at the ending of the 60s,
both in England and America.
186
00:22:13,262 -- 00:22:16,095
There were some guys...
187
00:22:16,502 -- 00:22:19,539
- You must have heard of Andy Warhol.
- Not really!
188
00:22:20,382 -- 00:22:22,737
Communism used to cut off
access to information,
189
00:22:22,862 -- 00:22:25,376
especially that concerning
American art,
190
00:22:25,542 -- 00:22:29,501
considered to be degenerate art.
Get it?
191
00:22:31,142 -- 00:22:33,531
So... I really have
to cut my hair today...
192
00:22:47,942 -- 00:22:52,572
- And does he get paid?
- Don't cut more than 3 cm.
193
00:22:55,022 -- 00:22:57,456
- Shall I trim the eyebrows, too?
- No!
194
00:22:57,622 -- 00:23:02,650
...in a dumpster...
Making art out of garbage.
195
00:23:02,942 -- 00:23:08,062
Mr. Dan took care of me.
Talent is ignored in Romania.
196
00:23:12,622 -- 00:23:13,816
Doctor...
197
00:23:23,422 -- 00:23:25,538
Socialist working-class hero.
198
00:23:27,582 -- 00:23:30,142
From the dumpster
straight to the gallery!
199
00:23:31,422 -- 00:23:33,890
- Who's in this picture here?
- You are.
200
00:23:35,262 -- 00:23:37,412
Let me show you one more...
201
00:23:40,422 -- 00:23:42,890
- Who's "the sheriff"?
- You are!
202
00:23:45,542 -- 00:23:48,454
- I'll get a newspaper for you.
- It talks really nice about you.
203
00:23:48,582 -- 00:23:51,415
There'll be
another interview tomorrow.
204
00:23:51,742 -- 00:23:57,772
"Romanian Pop Art Debut"
"Debut"what?! You're 60!
205
00:23:58,582 -- 00:24:05,454
Ion, man, really! You shoulda been
30 or 40. At least 40!
206
00:24:06,302 -- 00:24:09,100
I'll remain here for a while,
I have to gather my stuff.
207
00:24:09,422 -- 00:24:13,415
- I'm a free man, now. This is it...
- What?! And before you weren't?!
208
00:24:14,142 -- 00:24:16,576
There was no one freer than you
in all of the neighborhood.
209
00:24:16,742 -- 00:24:18,858
- Free in the garbage.
- Not in the garbage...
210
00:24:19,102 -- 00:24:23,892
That's how you wanted it, Ion.
In this neighborhood,
211
00:24:24,262 -- 00:24:26,856
from all the people I know,
you've always been the one
212
00:24:26,982 -- 00:24:30,622
who did only as you pleased.
And you had nothing to worry about
213
00:24:30,622 -- 00:24:33,182
as long as
you didn't disturb the others.
214
00:24:44,902 -- 00:24:47,860
16 May 2008
Exhibition opening
215
00:24:52,302 -- 00:24:57,535
My barbershop.
At Ion's, in the dumpster.
216
00:25:06,942 -- 00:25:10,651
- Are you nervous?
- I don't think I'll be.
217
00:25:14,502 -- 00:25:17,221
I don't even know
what nervousness means.
218
00:25:21,662 -- 00:25:24,415
Let me look in the mirror,
see if I'm handsome.
219
00:25:25,662 -- 00:25:27,812
It's nice, sonny...
220
00:25:31,902 -- 00:25:38,137
- It's black, you'll ruin them.
- They'll be very pretty, you'll see.
221
00:26:05,502 -- 00:26:09,859
It's a special gas. Let's see
if it wipes off. It does!
222
00:26:26,982 -- 00:26:31,658
- I wanted to dye the shoes.
- Don't touch it, 'cause...
223
00:26:31,862 -- 00:26:36,652
No, no. "Harasho" this shirt.
I'll give it back.
224
00:26:36,822 -- 00:26:40,258
- Did you? Is that dirty, too?
- Which of them?
225
00:26:40,502 -- 00:26:45,781
- The leather jacket. Did you dye it?
- Yeah, damn it! I need a cloth.
226
00:26:52,542 -- 00:26:54,658
I'd like to wear a couple of medals.
227
00:26:54,822 -- 00:26:57,541
Don't do anything,
you're all good. Okay?
228
00:26:57,662 -- 00:27:00,540
You'll stay like... Get it?
You won't move an inch
229
00:27:00,662 -- 00:27:03,540
and you'll explain it to people
pointing with this stick.
230
00:27:03,662 -- 00:27:07,575
- If they ask you. If they ask you.
- I'll explain it to them anyway.
231
00:27:07,742 -- 00:27:12,691
Be careful!
It kinda wears off, but that's okay.
232
00:27:16,342 -- 00:27:19,573
Hello... Mr. Brldeanu,
our neighbor. How are you?
233
00:27:20,982 -- 00:27:25,214
Were there any speeches?
Oh... we have to wait...
234
00:28:33,382 -- 00:28:38,137
I wish my father were alive,
so that he'd see the truth.
235
00:28:47,942 -- 00:28:52,493
Now I'm the richest person
in the neighborhood. So to speak...
236
00:29:03,142 -- 00:29:04,894
Well, I've been happy before,
237
00:29:05,022 -- 00:29:07,775
but this is
a different kind of happiness.
238
00:29:26,102 -- 00:29:28,457
He's always hoped that maybe,
just maybe,
239
00:29:28,582 -- 00:29:32,131
he'll get out of here some day.
This winter was really harsh on him.
240
00:29:32,262 -- 00:29:34,856
He thought he won't live
to see the spring.
241
00:29:35,182 -- 00:29:39,460
And then, when I came back to work,
he told me that Mr. Dan had come
242
00:29:39,622 -- 00:29:43,410
and left him cigarettes,
10 packs of Kent and a million lei.
243
00:29:44,022 -- 00:29:47,537
"That's it! I've struck gold!
I'm done with poverty!"
244
00:29:51,502 -- 00:29:54,812
The cigarette! Where is it?!
Jesus, you've scared me.
245
00:29:54,942 -- 00:29:57,536
You're like Popeye,
the sailorman.
246
00:30:00,182 -- 00:30:02,298
I'm drunk with being famous.
247
00:30:03,742 -- 00:30:05,494
Be careful!
248
00:30:13,262 -- 00:30:15,253
I'd like to die, just a bit.
249
00:30:18,342 -- 00:30:21,061
Look, listen to me!
I want to tell you something
250
00:30:21,182 -- 00:30:23,776
and I don't want it
to sound too bossy.
251
00:30:23,942 -- 00:30:26,615
I want you to understand me
as from man to man.
252
00:30:26,902 -- 00:30:30,338
Look, for example, I've made you
an appointment to the dentist,
253
00:30:30,462 -- 00:30:33,852
for 6 o'clock, today.
You cannot go like this!
254
00:30:34,102 -- 00:30:36,570
He won't be needing anesthesia!
255
00:30:39,022 -- 00:30:42,059
If you keep like this,
you'll never move out of here!
256
00:30:43,582 -- 00:30:45,459
Do you want to move out?
257
00:30:45,622 -- 00:30:48,898
But many of my works
were done while being drunk.
258
00:30:49,022 -- 00:30:50,819
That's different.
259
00:30:52,942 -- 00:30:55,581
You're making me edgy. C'mon.
260
00:30:56,622 -- 00:30:59,261
Oh, I'd like to smack you around
a bit, Mr. Dan...
261
00:30:59,422 -- 00:31:01,856
- Yeah, you would...
- I'll just tap you on the shoulder.
262
00:31:02,022 -- 00:31:04,217
I'm a bit of a rascal.
263
00:31:17,462 -- 00:31:24,812
He started out with some drawings,
some sort of expressionistic BDs,
264
00:31:27,502 -- 00:31:29,732
kind of like those by Otto Dix.
265
00:31:35,262 -- 00:31:38,095
Then, step by step,
he began blending in collages,
266
00:31:38,262 -- 00:31:43,177
so it became a drawing-collage mix.
Then things changed
267
00:31:43,382 -- 00:31:48,820
and he entered
a rather Baroque area of the collage,
268
00:31:49,822 -- 00:31:52,939
in which he'd cut out the eyes
and put them to other people.
269
00:31:53,142 -- 00:31:58,216
It was a sort of Surrealistic Pop,
really strange and twisted,
270
00:31:58,422 -- 00:32:04,099
induced by alcohol, I'm sure,
but, nevertheless, remarkable.
271
00:32:05,262 -- 00:32:08,777
Then things became
more and more synthetic,
272
00:32:08,902 -- 00:32:11,416
simpler and minimalistic.
273
00:32:23,942 -- 00:32:29,141
His first works,
the really crowded ones,
274
00:32:29,302 -- 00:32:32,533
are the ones I like the most.
But he says "no';
275
00:32:33,582 -- 00:32:39,452
he says that he wasn't
at the top of his game yet.
276
00:32:54,182 -- 00:32:57,219
- Repeat after me: "ham", "clam".
- "Ham", "Clam".
277
00:32:57,382 -- 00:32:59,737
- "Mississippi".
- "Mississippi".
278
00:33:01,582 -- 00:33:03,493
- "Massachusetts".
- Sorry?
279
00:33:06,142 -- 00:33:10,818
Let me take this...
Let's talk on the phone,
280
00:33:10,982 -- 00:33:13,655
I think that they'll be ready
round Tuesday.
281
00:33:21,302 -- 00:33:23,372
We will talk later.
282
00:33:25,822 -- 00:33:29,974
"Brldeanu seems concerned
with the enormity of the lies
283
00:33:30,182 -- 00:33:32,491
and of the stupidities
put by the government
284
00:33:32,662 -- 00:33:37,782
in people's heads.
Actually, Brldeanu is trying
285
00:33:37,982 -- 00:33:42,578
to say some disturbing truths
and put them into images.
286
00:33:44,142 -- 00:33:47,418
His drawings are extremely ironic,
and if those about Ceausescu
287
00:33:47,582 -- 00:33:50,582
had been seen
in the underground circles,
288
00:33:50,582 -- 00:33:53,699
it would have stirred things up
in the society of that time
289
00:33:53,862 -- 00:33:57,411
and the Securitate
would have had to hunt
290
00:33:57,542 -- 00:34:00,261
an even more dangerous dissident."
291
00:34:04,582 -- 00:34:07,415
- What's up?
- I keep away from the sun.
292
00:34:10,902 -- 00:34:16,659
You know what we should do today?
Gather some clean clothes
293
00:34:18,782 -- 00:34:23,173
and take them to the new place.
I've bought you some sheets...
294
00:34:24,022 -- 00:34:30,177
- I'll take them myself.
- No, we're going together.
295
00:34:31,662 -- 00:34:33,573
Well, I'm not even ready yet.
296
00:34:48,582 -- 00:34:51,255
Mr. Ion, can you come upstairs
to the 4th floor, please?
297
00:34:51,742 -- 00:34:53,255
Okay!
298
00:35:01,742 -- 00:35:04,381
- Who's there?
- It's me, Ion from the dumpster.
299
00:35:04,502 -- 00:35:07,141
- Yeah, come upstairs then...
- I hear you're famous.
300
00:35:07,302 -- 00:35:09,975
- Yeah, I am!
- Congratulations.
301
00:35:10,702 -- 00:35:13,819
I'll empty a couple more trash cans,
and I'm over and done with.
302
00:35:32,542 -- 00:35:34,578
I'm cutting my hands quite often.
303
00:35:38,662 -- 00:35:45,215
What a disaster! People
put bottles in and it clogs up.
304
00:35:45,582 -- 00:35:48,654
Look. The cleaning lady
washed the floor the other day,
305
00:35:48,822 -- 00:35:53,498
and when I went to buy water,
I fell down and broke my hand.
306
00:35:53,622 -- 00:35:59,094
Can you imagine?
Go fill this with water, for me...
307
00:35:59,742 -- 00:36:04,213
Please... I mean with soil,
so that I can pot this flower...
308
00:36:04,422 -- 00:36:07,380
Ma'am, I'm not coming back,
I'm going into town.
309
00:36:07,582 -- 00:36:11,097
- The cleaning lady will do it...
- C'mon, man, take this and...
310
00:36:11,302 -- 00:36:14,055
- I don't need money, ma'am.
- C'mon, Mr. Ion. Please, I can't go!
311
00:36:14,222 -- 00:36:15,894
Ma'am, I'm not coming back.
312
00:36:22,982 -- 00:36:26,531
- Will they throw him out?
- Yeah. They've made up their minds.
313
00:36:27,862 -- 00:36:30,854
I've interceded with Mrs. Nina,
'cause she's the one...
314
00:36:30,982 -- 00:36:34,338
"Ma'am, please, tell the super
to let him stay at least for a week."
315
00:36:35,382 -- 00:36:37,498
He talked back to the president,
and that one is now bent
316
00:36:37,622 -- 00:36:42,252
on getting rid of him.
They're all in it, together.
317
00:36:42,542 -- 00:36:47,536
They're saying "they are leaving,
we're staying, we're neighbors."
318
00:36:49,902 -- 00:36:56,057
And we... We cannot say a thing,
we cannot rebel or anything.
319
00:36:56,622 -- 00:36:58,453
If we do, we're out!
320
00:37:02,662 -- 00:37:05,779
Should I come tomorrow morning
and take those bags?
321
00:37:44,142 -- 00:37:45,575
Let me take this...
322
00:37:47,622 -- 00:37:49,340
It's heavy!
323
00:38:10,262 -- 00:38:14,619
The other one is in there, dead.
His brother, I suppose...
324
00:38:15,502 -- 00:38:17,060
- The pigeon?
- Yeah.
325
00:38:18,022 -- 00:38:20,172
This one would be dead too, if...
326
00:38:20,342 -- 00:38:23,891
I give him water with the syringe,
and I feed him grain and bread.
327
00:38:46,102 -- 00:38:48,980
He's your new neighbor,
Mr. Ion Brldeanu.
328
00:38:49,262 -- 00:38:53,096
Let me give you this
so that you know who he is.
329
00:38:53,342 -- 00:38:57,176
He's an artist, I own a gallery.
You'll get along fine.
330
00:39:00,902 -- 00:39:04,451
- Who are these people, Ion?
- This one was a good man.
331
00:39:04,582 -- 00:39:08,211
Two days before his death,
he bought me a beer.
332
00:39:08,422 -- 00:39:11,300
Or two...
I forgot his name...
333
00:39:15,582 -- 00:39:19,973
Look, this was me
when I still had my teeth.
334
00:39:20,862 -- 00:39:25,538
I was working
for the Carpati tobacco company.
335
00:39:27,702 -- 00:39:29,374
This is my real father.
336
00:39:39,302 -- 00:39:41,611
I don't even know
what day's today, sonny...
337
00:39:41,742 -- 00:39:44,973
Wednesday? Saturday? Thursday?
No clue...
338
00:39:46,222 -- 00:39:48,497
- It's Thursday.
- Thursday...
339
00:40:02,622 -- 00:40:07,377
You have to give people
something that will touch them
340
00:40:07,542 -- 00:40:12,332
or whatever...
Like with music.
341
00:40:28,862 -- 00:40:30,420
When did you make this one?
342
00:40:31,542 -- 00:40:33,851
Awhile ago,
but I haven't finished it.
343
00:40:37,542 -- 00:40:39,817
I don't know
what to put in this corner,
344
00:40:39,942 -- 00:40:42,137
these are all workers.
345
00:40:44,942 -- 00:40:46,534
What do you think?
346
00:40:52,982 -- 00:40:54,654
"To be or not to be"?
347
00:41:01,222 -- 00:41:03,531
I've found myself
a watch in the garbage.
348
00:41:04,702 -- 00:41:08,536
I find a lot of things in...
It was in a backyard, nearby.
349
00:41:13,222 -- 00:41:19,457
Then I found the Eiffel tower.
Look how small it is.
350
00:41:22,302 -- 00:41:26,215
It even has a hook.
It's for the neck, I think.
351
00:41:27,582 -- 00:41:31,734
"Finally, the foreign investors
got down to business.
352
00:41:31,942 -- 00:41:36,174
We'll have shit loads of everything."
That's the message...
353
00:41:41,422 -- 00:41:43,060
As soon as
I'm done with the cigarette,
354
00:41:43,222 -- 00:41:45,941
I'll get to the glue part,
so that you can see me doing it.
355
00:42:13,542 -- 00:42:15,817
That's 'cause
I don't have long nails...
356
00:42:16,462 -- 00:42:21,331
I'm always cutting them.
And they aren't dirty, either.
357
00:42:28,702 -- 00:42:32,456
- "Pelicanol" was the best...
- What was that?
358
00:42:32,942 -- 00:42:34,773
The communist glue.
359
00:43:13,342 -- 00:43:16,175
When I had finished a "movie",
I'd put them like that,
360
00:43:16,342 -- 00:43:18,378
on the floor, and admire them.
361
00:43:21,782 -- 00:43:27,220
She's the only one glued.
I did it 20 years ago.
362
00:43:27,382 -- 00:43:29,452
It was left unfinished.
363
00:43:32,022 -- 00:43:35,810
But I don't have enough time...
If I could be born again,
364
00:43:36,022 -- 00:43:39,059
live my life again,
and do all that I wanna do...
365
00:43:42,622 -- 00:43:44,180
I don't have much time left.
366
00:43:54,222 -- 00:43:57,294
Zpodeni, 2009
Home village
367
00:44:08,462 -- 00:44:12,057
Lost and dead. Get it?
Here, he's been both lost and dead.
368
00:44:12,222 -- 00:44:14,338
My God, it's him!
Brldeanu Ion. Right?
369
00:44:14,542 -- 00:44:16,817
- I'm Romic.
- Oh Romic, how are you?
370
00:44:16,982 -- 00:44:19,940
- Do you know me? Mihai's brother.
- Hi.
371
00:44:20,582 -- 00:44:25,053
Boy, oh, boy! You look okay.
Well, you're still alive...
372
00:44:25,582 -- 00:44:28,460
Remeber, you used to say:
"Death to the communists!"
373
00:44:28,582 -- 00:44:31,540
"Me, communist, never!"
That's why he ran away.
374
00:44:31,702 -- 00:44:33,340
Because of the communists.
375
00:44:33,462 -- 00:44:36,135
But I've finally showed
the communists what's what.
376
00:44:36,302 -- 00:44:37,735
I'm a real artist now.
377
00:44:37,902 -- 00:44:40,257
Who cares?
I'm not a communist.
378
00:44:40,422 -- 00:44:44,051
His father was the president
of the farming cooperative.
379
00:44:44,342 -- 00:44:47,254
And his father
was bent on killing him.
380
00:44:47,622 -- 00:44:50,261
But him, a communist, never.
"He wanna kill me... okay".
381
00:44:50,382 -- 00:44:53,852
I wanna kiss my brother...
He's 4 years older than me.
382
00:44:54,822 -- 00:44:58,861
- 53... 63 years old!
- Yeah. And you?
383
00:45:00,222 -- 00:45:02,292
- 59.
- Here's to you!
384
00:45:02,502 -- 00:45:04,140
Thank you.
385
00:45:04,302 -- 00:45:07,612
Tell the man about that time
you spent in the Galati jail
386
00:45:07,782 -- 00:45:10,057
for stealing the watermelons.
387
00:45:10,342 -- 00:45:16,258
'Scuse me. How should I put this...
I'm not feeling very well.
388
00:45:17,262 -- 00:45:20,140
No, the old man hit him
in the head with a pan.
389
00:45:21,382 -- 00:45:25,455
He's smart, you know.
Unlike Petrica, that one is not...
390
00:45:25,622 -- 00:45:28,375
When no one could see us,
we'd joke around...
391
00:45:28,582 -- 00:45:33,451
We haven't seen each other
in 17 years.
392
00:45:43,262 -- 00:45:47,414
- Look, icons.
- They weren't here before, but...
393
00:45:47,582 -- 00:45:52,178
I'll send some more...
I keep all the religious stuff.
394
00:46:01,382 -- 00:46:04,294
Jeez, that's my painting!
Mr. Dan, come here!
395
00:46:04,462 -- 00:46:07,534
- This one, right?
- Yeah, but I didn't sign it.
396
00:46:08,342 -- 00:46:10,776
- Brldeanu.
- Look, I scratched it.
397
00:46:10,902 -- 00:46:13,370
- Right, right...
- It's almost like the one on...
398
00:46:13,502 -- 00:46:16,653
- Look. Ion Brldeanu...
- '71.
399
00:46:22,302 -- 00:46:26,375
I'm proud they kept my stuff.
400
00:46:29,982 -- 00:46:31,893
Well, Mr. Dan, in Latin,
401
00:46:32,142 -- 00:46:35,373
I've read it somewhere,
they say "Vita Brevis, Ars Longa".
402
00:46:35,542 -- 00:46:38,534
- Life's short, art's long, right?
- Right.
403
00:46:46,182 -- 00:46:50,255
Ceausescu in a Jewish cemetery.
Here is a catholic priest.
404
00:46:50,582 -- 00:46:54,257
This is Ceausescu,
in the mental institution...
405
00:46:54,782 -- 00:46:57,296
- Was he in there, too?
- No, I put him in there.
406
00:46:57,462 -- 00:46:59,657
- Oh, you...
- Well, he deserved it!
407
00:47:00,502 -- 00:47:02,777
And I played with the head...
408
00:47:06,782 -- 00:47:10,775
Ion's father... if you said
anything about politics...
409
00:47:10,942 -- 00:47:13,979
Two of his boys
did jail time for it.
410
00:47:14,982 -- 00:47:18,418
With all this propaganda,
he'd have shot him on the spot.
411
00:47:18,582 -- 00:47:20,777
Oh, if he were alive today...
412
00:47:20,942 -- 00:47:23,615
If he were,
he'd shoot everyone, not only him.
413
00:47:24,102 -- 00:47:27,458
He was a cold-blooded man.
414
00:47:28,622 -- 00:47:34,731
He was cruel with all his kids,
both my mother's and my father's...
415
00:47:40,102 -- 00:47:43,139
When Ceausescu died,
he destroyed the television set.
416
00:47:43,462 -- 00:47:46,101
He started shouting
"Our father's dead, no more TV!"
417
00:47:46,302 -- 00:47:52,650
He got scared. He never thought
Communism would be over.
418
00:47:55,382 -- 00:47:56,974
And it was!
419
00:47:58,982 -- 00:48:01,974
Petre Brldeanu
Younger brother
420
00:48:05,702 -- 00:48:09,741
Is Petrica older?
Maybe Ion is older?
421
00:48:15,142 -- 00:48:18,054
- Ion is older, right?
- Yeah, he's 63.
422
00:48:20,022 -- 00:48:21,057
Look at him...
423
00:48:21,182 -- 00:48:24,174
Jesus, from behind,
he's the living image of his father.
424
00:48:24,782 -- 00:48:27,421
- Is he?
- Yeah. But his father was taller.
425
00:48:31,222 -- 00:48:32,814
How can you not remember me?
426
00:48:34,582 -- 00:48:37,415
We went to Brasov
and you painted me, remember?
427
00:48:37,822 -- 00:48:40,655
- No...
- You went with me to Brasov...
428
00:48:41,462 -- 00:48:43,453
- I forgot...
- You forgot!
429
00:48:43,942 -- 00:48:48,413
- But didn't you use to be a cop?
- Yeah, Zare Nichita.
430
00:48:49,222 -- 00:48:52,578
Zare, yeah, I know. And didn't you
use to be with the militia?
431
00:48:55,422 -- 00:48:58,812
Yeah... Yeah, we once went
to Brasov, by train...
432
00:48:59,622 -- 00:49:02,739
We kept drinking from a can,
and you kept drawing me...
433
00:49:04,422 -- 00:49:06,219
Incredible, ain't it?
434
00:49:44,702 -- 00:49:51,653
See, Mr. Alex? It's nice,
it's quiet... only the birds...
435
00:49:52,582 -- 00:49:56,860
Did you record them singing?
The hens... A true concert!
436
00:49:57,302 -- 00:49:59,452
- Don't you miss this place?
- Sorry?
437
00:49:59,582 -- 00:50:03,052
- Don't you miss living here?
- Well, Dan...
438
00:50:33,542 -- 00:50:39,651
Here's my father. He died in '92,
and mom died in 2008.
439
00:50:43,582 -- 00:50:46,255
- You could've still seen her...
- Yeah...
440
00:50:51,862 -- 00:50:56,982
- I tried to love them...
- Do you think they loved you?
441
00:50:58,462 -- 00:51:02,501
In a way, yeah, but they've never
understood me, my things...
442
00:51:05,542 -- 00:51:10,900
And they kept fighting.
I didn't like that situation.
443
00:51:12,382 -- 00:51:14,850
I don't know
what the hell I told her...
444
00:51:15,102 -- 00:51:18,856
I'm always on the level,
never mincing my words.
445
00:51:19,342 -- 00:51:23,255
She said something and I'm sorry,
'cause she was my mother...
446
00:51:23,422 -- 00:51:26,653
"Drop dead in that Bucharest
of yours!"
447
00:51:27,462 -- 00:51:29,896
Well... I didn't drop dead.
448
00:53:08,742 -- 00:53:12,291
Basel 2009 - Contemporary art fair
for new emerging art
449
00:53:40,662 -- 00:53:42,175
- Chicago.
- Chicago?
450
00:53:43,382 -- 00:53:47,375
New York, I'm living in New York.
Brooklyn...
451
00:53:47,862 -- 00:53:50,854
- "Is Name Brldeanu John".
- John?
452
00:53:51,262 -- 00:53:53,093
- Yeah, Ion.
- Ion.
453
00:53:53,342 -- 00:53:57,733
- In Romanian. "Rumen".
- Cassie.
454
00:54:00,622 -- 00:54:05,059
"Thank you", in Romanian.
"Grazia".
455
00:54:16,102 -- 00:54:18,536
- Wow, I love it!
- Where should we put it?
456
00:54:20,302 -- 00:54:21,530
Beautiful!
457
00:54:23,022 -- 00:54:26,537
Come, I've arranged
your exhibits.
458
00:54:27,142 -- 00:54:31,693
There are the Real Politik,
everything connected to Ceausescu
459
00:54:31,902 -- 00:54:34,860
and the rather political collages,
and here are the others,
460
00:54:34,982 -- 00:54:37,542
those about art history,
so to speak.
461
00:54:38,822 -- 00:54:42,451
That's the guy with
the Cristo Island.
462
00:54:42,582 -- 00:54:45,176
This one here looks
like a Hieronymus Bosch.
463
00:54:45,302 -- 00:54:47,691
You must definitely see
a Hieronymus Bosch.
464
00:54:47,822 -- 00:54:50,814
This is all my imagination,
I did it as a pastime.
465
00:56:50,142 -- 00:56:52,258
Look at that tear!
466
00:56:54,982 -- 00:56:56,779
Look, another one...
467
00:57:15,302 -- 00:57:18,658
"Me no speak English".
Mr. Dan, translate, please.
468
00:57:20,622 -- 00:57:23,853
This lady has asked me something
and I don't understand.
469
00:58:22,222 -- 00:58:24,736
In August 2009, Ion Brldeanu's
works were exhibited in London
470
00:58:25,022 -- 00:58:27,411
together with works by Andy Warhol
and Marcel Duchamp.
471
00:58:28,982 -- 00:58:30,973
In February 2010, Ion Brldeanu
has his first solo exhibition
472
00:58:31,302 -- 00:58:33,691
at the Anne de Villepoix
gallery in Paris.
473
00:58:35,582 -- 00:58:40,702
In 2009, after a ten years' break, Ion
Brldeanu created 160 new collages.