Based on a theatrical text by Romanian writer Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912), who was a bitter and funny witness of the turn-of-the-20th-century Romanian bourgeois mores, Carnival Scenes manages to preserve and further enhance the slightly hysteric atmosphere of his plays. Pintilie creates a strange combination of carnival scenes which is brought to the screen as a burlesque, fast-paced, screwball comedy with a meditative undertone. This film was banned in Romania for a decade until the death of Ceausescu in 1989 and was only released after the 1989 revolution.
This blend of comedy and psycho-drama is comprised of two disturbing stories. The first tells the tale of a robot who is set to Earth by his home planet to discover new energy sources. In the second a boy is sent into deep space as part of an inhuman experiment designed to create the perfect human.
Pacala is an important hero in Romanian popular tradition. He is always making fun of everything wrong with the human behaviour such as stupidity, greed or vanity. His attitude and actions always bring damages to the mean, evil and materialistic people. So beside the jokes, the movie has this philosophical layer, undoubtedly because Pacala's independent way of being, free spirit and his love for the nature creates a way of seeing life, bringing joy. Filmed in a very beautiful part of Romania in 1974, the movie had an important success at that time and it is considered one of the most loved movies in Romania ever. Like the hero, found in many stories and jokes, the movie forwards the spirit of true freedom and pure link with the nature, forgetting about times and governments.
In the fall, under the sign of Virgo, in a Dobrogea village, the harvest festival is in progress. An amateur troupe is playing a scene with Afrodite, Dionysos and Neptune; but also dome old shamanic dances. Dița and Dionis are preparing for wedding. But the sins of their parents will weigh heavily on them.
Ruxandra, a young woman just out of school, decides to become an actress, convinced that personal charm can keep instead of talent.