Tales from the Golden Age
IFC Films | Release Date: August 26, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Time OutSam AdamsAug 24, 2011
Although several sections deal with the Ceausescu-era party apparatus, Mungiu's interest lies more in how the nation's political confusion affected the general populace. It's history told from the bottom, where what everyone thinks happened matters as much as what actually did. Read full review
80
EmpireHelen O'HaraAug 23, 2011
Flashes of bleak humour makes this wry portrait a compelling experience. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyAug 23, 2011
Though the threat of exposure and incarceration lurk behind every story, the characters' ingenuity and humour serve as impudent alternatives to authoritarian stupidity and brutality. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen HoldenAug 25, 2011
The strongest tales embrace a strain of barnyard humor that is matched by the robust performances of actors who convey an earthy jocularity. The movie doesn't shy away from comparing these hardy, weather-beaten rustics to their livestock. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. HobermanAug 23, 2011
Sardonic as it may be, Tales From the Golden Age is basically affirmative - its true subject is resilience. Romania suffered under a regime of dangerous stupidity. Drawing on popular memory, Mungiu has orchestrated a contribution to local folklore, a suite of stories in which those rendered witless by oppression were compelled by circumstance to live off their wits. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterPeter BrunetteAug 23, 2011
Will undoubtedly mean a great deal to Romanians who struggled during this dark period, but not much to anyone else. Read full review
70
VarietyJay WeissbergAug 23, 2011
Though Mungiu's presumed two shorts have the most individual feel, the other helmers -- Ioana Uricaru, Hanno Hoefer, Razvan Marculescu and Constantin Popescu, all feature novices -- show a plethora of styles within the so-called "Romanian New Wave." Read full review
63
New York PostV.A. MusettoAug 26, 2011
The collection is a mixed bag, although there are no clunkers. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerAug 22, 2011
The first four of the film's 1980s-set episodes are shorter in length and more anecdotal in nature than the last two and deal primarily with the pageantry and inflexible customs behind the regime with a perspective at once amused and bemused. Read full review
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