BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Armand only an exercise to present , in regime limits, a honest thriller. cops - good and bad, the perfect police officer, few communist references, game with regime as proof of independence, shootings, feelings, action and slices from Romanian society in las years of WW II. nothing new. but it remains almost seductive. for the generations for who Nicolaescu films was perfect drug. for the kids of today as alternative to video games. for the nostalgia of old men who remembers their youth. and for a vision about national past not really pink but almost idyllic. it is a good film. more good today, after death of Sergiu Nicolaescu because emotions -circle for his ash - are perfect key to discover the nice parts for each movie directed by him. in fact, it is only testimony. about a time. and about an image of past, not very correct - Oastea Domnului was a respectable Eastern Orthodox organization as minor argument.

andrei1981-1 'Cu mainile curate' (With Clean Hands)is more a political pamphlet than anything else. Although any political/ historical movie had to be checked by a special division of the Communist Party, Nicolaescu managed to elude their vigilence on one hand and exploit their ignorance, on the other, to make a film which apparently presents the communists in a positive way. In reality there is a lot of subtle political irony, definitely noticed by the public, hence the great success of the film. The story of an apolitical commissar using old methods against the gangsters, very different from the communist view is very interesting especially because the communist view (although ideologically very dear to the Party) was very naive and utopical and of course the public understood the message very well. This commissar has a partner who was put there by the Communist Party, who was a former rugby player. This tells a lot about the irony in the film. The movie is very well made, very careful to details with a great atmosphere of Bucharest in the aftermath of WWII and in the turmoil of the communists ascension to power.

agd81 First of all, let me just say that I cannot speak about Cu Mainile Curate (With Clean Hands) without mentioning Ultimul Cartus (The Last Bullet). I can't. They are twin movies. They are practically a 3-hour movie cut in two. The definitive Romanian cop movie has always divided Romanian film fans into lovers and haters. Sure, the acting is sometimes awful, the clichés are blatant and the script sometimes lingers, but one can't deny the raw feeling you get when watching this movie, and that unforgettable piano theme sticks with you for the rest of your life.The plot involves two cops ("comissaries") in 1945 Bucharest. Miclovan is a dandy, trigger-happy tough cop who thinks it's better to kill villains rather than bring them to justice. Roman is a Communist-party-member-former-rugby-player idealist newbie (although the same age as Miclovan) who joined the force thinking life on the street is just like playing "cops and robbers". They are forced to work together following a series of bank and jeweler's stores robberies that Miclovan thinks are orchestrated by industrialist Semaca. The two embark on an investigation that will set them against Semaca's henchmen, with tragic consequences. The chemistry between the two cops is what it's important in this movie. Their different views on justice are obviously on a collision course and it all culminates with a fist fight between the two. They are, however, aware of each other's qualities and decide to be more open minded towards each other, taking on the bad guys as a team (it's kinda like "L.A. Confidential", if you will).The ending is symbolic, with Miclovan lying dead, shot by Semaca's men, and Roman retrieving the last bullet from his partner's gun and putting it in his pocket. At the time (1972), the audience was baffled by the ending, not knowing that Nicolaescu was already planning the sequel, in which the eponymous last bullet would play a pivotal role.

Balonca Oh my God, baby, Sergiu is just doing some marvelous **** again in this movie, just like in all others. His dialogues are sharp and to the point, his mind is troubled and obsessed, and his bullets are prompt and to the head. He is a master.