Romania | 1976 | 86min | dir: Alexandru Tatos | cast: Mircea Diaconu, Ion Cojar, Ernest Maftei, Emilia Dobrin, Carmen Galin In Romanian with English subtitles.
Red Apples / Mere rosii is the extraordinary debut of theatre director Alexandru Tatos, made during the time when Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship became even harsher and more absurd. The film is based on a script by Ion Baiesu, writer and playwright, who is behind another important story of the Romanian cinema, which as The Oak / Balanta was later made into a film by Lucian Pintilie.
The film tells the story of a young doctor who has to fight the narrow-mindedness of a hospital's management. He struggles between his devotion to his profession and the urge to expose the corrupted medical system. Mircea Diaconu's brilliant performance in the title role catapulted the young theatre and film actor to stardom.
Alexandru Tatos (1937-1990) is a Romanian film director, scriptwriter and theatre director. Selected filmography: August Ablaze (1973, TV series / co-directed with Dan Pita), Red Apples (1976), Gently Was Anastasia Passing (1979), The House in the Fields (1980), Sequences (1982), Forest Fruit (1983), Der Glockenkaufer (1984), Gathering Clouds (1985), The Secret of the Secret Weapon (1988), Who Is Right? (1990).
