Radu Panamarenco

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.

The exploits of an odd adulterous couple

The movie describes the life of a former circus artist who earns his living from the presentation in villages and towns of a sensational number entitled "Sword Swallower".

Victor, an incisive journalist, discovers a series of irregularities in a State farming enterprise. His investigations will unmask the fraud committed by the person in charge of the wine section, called Bachus. Although aided by an impressive number of cronies, Bachus will not be able to hide forever infamous secret.

After surviving a shipwreck in the Caribbean, a captain returns home burdened by guilt and haunted by the past. Given command a ship bound for Singapore, he is treated with suspicion and hostility by his new crew.

Irina is married with a sea captain, that is away for the better part of the year. She is missing his company, so she is vulnerable to the advances of another man.

A young girl, who keeps trying unsuccessfully to get into college, wins a large sum at the Lottery. She goes to Bucharest, to find herself.

This movie retells the story of a revenge that sweeps over the social and political events of the '40s. Because they sent her son to war and he never came back, his tough mother, Ecaterina Handraburu, decides to have her revenge on those who plotted to leave her heirless and grab her possessions.