ENESCU - Alive Pulled
a film by Toma Enache
January 10, 20325 at 18:00
State Philharmonic Pitesti
𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝟕𝟎
From January 2025 we start the series of special screenings through which we honor 70 years since the passing away of our genius composer, George Enescu. The series of special screenings with the first feature film dedicated to him begins on January 25th at the Romanian Athenaeum and will continue throughout the country and the world for the entire year 2025!
“Enescu – Alive Pulled” narrates the extraordinary and tumultuous journey of one of the greatest Romanian composers and violinists, George Enescu. The film explores his inner world, revealing not only his immense talent but also the intense personal battles he fought throughout his life. At the heart of the story is his passionate and often heart-wrenching love for Princess Maruca Cantacuzino, a relationship that shaped his destiny and his music's course. Through sensitive and profound direction, Toma Enache brings to the audience an emotional exploration of a genius's soul in a film that seamlessly blends music, history, and personal drama.
Director Toma Enache highlights in an interview for London Director Awards: “Few musicians in history have been so unanimously acclaimed as George Enescu. The great cellist Pablo Casals described him as “the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart,” and for Yehudi Menuhin, his student, he was “one of the wonders of the world.”
Our film is for all those who love music, love stories, for all those who love people who dedicate themselves to their talent and sacrifice themselves to leave something great behind. In fact, this is what his opera Oedipus, George Enescu's magnum opus, is also about.”
“19th-century literature brought us various examples of “Romantic Love in Women,” but the history of everyday life tells us the other side of the coin. In the simplest cases, the presence of the “masculine” was inevitable, at least for the narratives of the time (today we would also talk about other relational dimensions). In some cases then, the bilateral “woman-masculine” suffering of love was clear. Think of the love between Heinrich Von Kleist and Henriette Vogel (a married woman who could not leave her husband) which pushed the two secret lovers to suicide, to the extreme gesture, to be able to live eternally the love that on this earth was forbidden to them. In the story of the Romanian musician, despite the knowledge that the princess loved him, George Enescu is the emblem of a “Romantic Masculine Love” that is not afraid to show itself in all its sweetness, in all its romance.
Toma Enache makes us experience its sweetness and romance in every moment of the film, directing a perfect cast for each role. Above all, the protagonists are at the superlative!” — master Nino Graziano Luca, director Compagnia Nazionale di Danza Storica
The film was scheduled for the official selection and won awards at several profile festivals, including: International Sound & Film Music Festival – ISFMF Croatia; Cyprus International Film Festival – Golden Aphrodyte CYIFF; Five Continents International Film Festival; Rome Prisma Film Awards; Florence Film Awards; International Art Film Festival in Athens; Salerno International Film Festival and others.
Toma Enache, the director of the film “ENESCU, Alive Pulled,” was recently awarded the “Premio Cultura” at the cultural event “Leoni, Gattopardi di Sicilia,” organized at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, in Venice. This project was created and directed by Nino Graziano Luca, in collaboration with Countess Chiara Modica Donà dalle Rose, under the patronage of the Culture Commission of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the UNESCO International Council of Dance.
The film benefits from a remarkable cast, with Mircea Dragoman in the role of George Enescu and Theodora Sandu as Princess Maruca, alongside well-known actors such as Cezara Dafinescu, Manuela Hărăbor, Adrian Titieni, Cristian Sofron, Kira Hagi, Pavel Ulici, Filip Ristovski, Erica Moldovan, Codrin Dănilă, and the late Constantin Codrescu. The costumes are designed by the Italian Stefano Nicolao, renowned for his work on Oscar-winning productions, and the music combines works by George Enescu and original compositions by Sebastian Androne-Nakanishi, designated “Composer of the Year 2022” at the International Classical Music Awards.
The soundtrack is performed by the French National Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Cristian Măcelaru, artistic director of the George Enescu Festival, and the Romanian Radio National Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Horia Andreescu. Additionally, violinist Alexandru Tomescu adds a distinct note to this sound production. The soundtrack also includes an original musical fragment performed by George Enescu on the violin and Dinu Lipatti on the piano.
On the film's Facebook and Instagram page is posted the complete list with the date and location of each premiere. Check the list and don't miss the only chance to watch the film “Enescu – Alive Pulled” in your town!
About the film:
George Enescu, a brilliant composer and violinist, is at the peak of his career and dreams of composing an opera. He falls in love with Princess Maruca, who inspires and challenges him. Though she loves him passionately, Maruca is tied to her husband and children. Destiny frees her from marriage, but will it be enough for the two to be happy together? And the opera? Will Enescu ever manage to compose it?
Title: “Enescu – Alive Pulled”
Duration: 120 minutes
Rating 12+
Soundtrack: French National Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Cristian Măcelaru and Romanian Radio National Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Horia Andreescu
Director: Toma Enache
Producers: Marta Maria Mocanu, Elena Enache
Release Date: November 2, 2024
FILM REVIEW/ Film review
ENESCU, Alive Pulled
Critic Gustavo Coletti for Times of Cinema:
“When I finished watching 'ENESCU, Alive Pulled' I immediately searched for the biography, not of Enescu, but of the director Toma Enache, because I was surprised by the quality of the film. I think I finally understood George Enescu after watching the two-hour film. Toma Enache has directed four feature films since 2013 and has staged many plays in Bucharest. He has always been appreciated for the quality of his projects.
The film's opening credit is visually fascinating. Statues that decompose as representations of an impending tragedy. I accessed Enescu, through the director: a brilliant violinist and composer planning to compose an opera, in love with a married princess who is also a mother. A true story, very close to fiction.
I really liked the reconstruction of a fascinating period because we are talking about the early years of the 20th century, especially in Romania. The attention to detail in costumes and set design does not go unnoticed, and the key moments generate an eclectic vibe between cinema and theater, having the brilliance of explosions, sometimes seeming supernatural.
It is difficult to find in modern cinema so much respect for the spirit of classic narratives. The style and atmosphere of the film remind us of the great masters of Italian or German cinema. Toma Enache makes no compromises in the pursuit of excellence.”
INTERNATIONAL ART FILM FESTIVAL IN ATHENS
“ENESCU, Alive Pulled” is a triumph not only as a period piece or a biographical film but also as a philosophical exploration of the human condition. It addresses eternal questions about love, creativity, and meaning with grace and depth, inviting the audience to reflect on the problems of genius and the sacrifices the desire for perfection entails.
As George Enescu himself said, “The artist reveals to humanity the path to harmony, which is happiness and peace.” Toma Enache's film does just that - through its beauty, depth, and touching tribute to an artist who lived and loved passionately, reminding us all of the power of art to illuminate the way to harmony in both life and love.”
INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL IN ROME — PRISMA
“Like notes of a symphony, every moment of Enescu's life is intertwined with shades, pauses, and tones that go beyond mere melody. Between one note and another, in the silent and profound space between them — the interval, the unspoken chord — there exists a vast range of hidden emotions and meanings that shape and give substance to his soul. Just as a symphony is made not just of notes, but also of the distance that separates them, Enescu's existence is constructed between the shadows of his loves, his losses, and his endless quest for beauty and truth.”
“Enescu, Alive Pulled” is more than just a film or a concert: it is an EXPERIENCE you must live. (Emil Călinescu, CINEMIL)
“Between Enescu's life and art, there was no frontier. And Toma Enache captures exactly this invisible (non)boundary!
Since “Man of God,” I haven't seen people in a whole hall silent, at the end, quietly reading through the credits for minutes on end, without anyone daring to disturb even with the applause worthy of a gala…
It felt like we had died with Enescu, this man skinned alive in life, alive among us in death!” (Floriana Jucan - Q Magazine)
#EnescuAlivePulled #TomaEnache #RomanianFilm #Cinema #GeorgeEnescu
#ClassicalMusic #IndependentFilm
We look forward to meeting ENESCU!
For further details regarding the above event, please contact the organizing entity: ,Association C.L.A. La Steaua, CIF ,12708800 BUCHAREST
