ENESCU - Skinned Alive
a film by Toma Enache
February 8, 2025 at 18:00
"Mon Amour" Cinema Piatra Neamt
𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝟕𝟎
From January 2025, we begin a series of special screenings to commemorate 70 years since the passing of our genius composer, George Enescu. The series of special screenings of the first artistic film dedicated to him starts on January 25 at the Romanian Athenaeum and will continue throughout the country and the world throughout 2025!
“Enescu – Skinned Alive” tells 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 struggles he faced throughout his life. At the heart of the story is his passionate and often heartbreaking love affair with Princess Maruca Cantacuzino, a relationship that shaped his destiny and the course of his music. Through sensitive and profound direction, Toma Enache brings to the audience an emotional exploration of the soul of a genius in a film that blends music, history, and personal drama.
Director Toma Enache emphasizes 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 admire people who dedicate themselves to their talent and sacrifice themselves to leave something great behind. In fact, this is also reflected in the opera Oedip, George Enescu's magnum opus.”
“The literature of the 19th century brought us various examples of ‘Romantic love in the feminine,’ but the history of everyday life tells us also 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 back then, the bilaterality ‘woman-man’ in the 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 ultimate gesture, to be able to live eternally the love which was forbidden to them on this earth. In the story of the Romanian musician, despite knowing that the princess loved him, George Enescu epitomizes a ‘Romantic Love in the masculine’ that is not afraid to show itself in all its sweetness, in all its romanticism.
Toma Enache makes us experience its sweetness and romance in every moment of the film, directing a perfect cast of actors in every role. Above all, the protagonists are at their best!” — maestro Nino Graziano Luca, director of Compagnia Nazionale di Danza Storica
The film has been featured in the official selection and has won awards at various 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; Athens International Film Festival; Salerno International Film Festival, and others.
Toma Enache, the director of the film “ENESCU, Skinned Alive,” has recently been awarded the “Premio Cultura” during the cultural event “Leoni, Gattopardi di Sicilia,” held at the 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 Cultural Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy and the International Council of Dance UNESCO.
The film boasts a remarkable cast, with Mircea Dragoman playing 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. Costumes are designed by Italian Stefano Nicolao, renowned for his work in Oscar-winning productions, and the music features works by George Enescu and original compositions by Sebastian Androne-Nakanishi, named “Composer of the Year 2022” at the International Classical Music Awards.
The soundtrack is performed by the National Orchestra of France, under the baton of Maestro Cristian Măcelaru, artistic director of the George Enescu Festival, and the National Radio Orchestra of Romania, 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 violin and Dinu Lipatti on piano.
On the film's Facebook and Instagram pages, the complete list with date and location of each premiere is posted. Check the list and don't miss the only chance to watch the film “Enescu – Skinned Alive” in your city!
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. Although she loves him passionately, Maruca is tied to her husband and children. Fate releases her from marriage, but will it be enough for them to be happy together? And the opera? Will Enescu ever succeed in composing it?
Title: “Enescu – Skinned Alive”
Duration: 120 minutes
Rating 12+
Soundtrack: National Orchestra of France, conducted by Maestro Cristian Măcelaru and National Radio Orchestra of Romania, conducted by Maestro Horia Andreescu
Directed by: Toma Enache
Producers: Marta Maria Mocanu, Elena Enache
Release Date: November 2, 2024
FILM REVIEW by Gustavo Coletti for Times of Cinema:
“When I finished watching 'ENESCU, Skinned Alive' I immediately searched for the biography, not of Enescu, but of director Toma Enache, because I was struck by the quality of the film. I think I finally understood George Enescu after watching the two-hour movie. Toma Enache has directed four features since 2013 and has staged many theater productions in Bucharest. He has always been appreciated for the quality of his projects.
The film's credits are visually fascinating. Statues disintegrate as representations of an impending tragedy. We have had access to Enescu, through the director: a brilliant violinist and composer who plans to write an opera, in love with a married princess who is also a mother. A true story, very close to fiction.
I greatly appreciated the reconstruction of a fascinating era, as we speak of the early 20th century, especially in Romania. The attention to detail in costumes and set design does not go unnoticed, and the most intense moments generate an eclectic vibe between cinema and theater, having the brilliance of explosions, seeming at times supernatural.
It is hard to find in modern cinematography so much respect for the spirit of classic narratives. The style and atmosphere of the film remind us of great masters of Italian or German cinematography. Toma Enache makes no compromises in pursuit of excellence.”
ATHENS INTERNATIONAL ARTS FILM FESTIVAL
“ENESCU, Skinned Alive” is a triumph not just as a period piece or a biographical film, but as a philosophical exploration of the human condition. It tackles eternal questions related to love, creativity, and purpose with grace and depth, inviting the audience to reflect on the challenges of genius and the sacrifices involved in the quest for perfection.
As George Enescu himself said, “The artist reveals to humanity the path to harmony, which is happiness and peace.” Toma Enache's film does exactly that - through its beauty, depth, and an emotional tribute to an artist who lived and loved passionately, it reminds us all of the power of art to light the way to harmony in both life and love.”
INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF ROME — PRISMA
“Like the notes of a symphony, each moment in Enescu's life is interwoven with nuances, pauses, and tones that transcend simple 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 give shape and substance to his soul. Just as a symphony is made not only of notes but also of the distance that separates them, Enescu's existence is built between the shadows of his loves, his losses, and his endless quest for beauty and truth.”
“Enescu, Skinned Alive” is more than a film or a concert: it is an EXPERIENCE to be lived. (Emil Călinescu, CINEMIL)
“There was no boundary between the life and art of Enescu. And Toma Enache captures exactly this invisible (un)boundary!
Since “Man of God,” I haven't seen people in an entire hall mute, at the end, quietly reading the credits for minutes on end, without anyone daring to disturb even with the applause due to a gala…
It was as if we had also died with Enescu, this man skinned alive in life, alive among us in death!” (Floriana Jucan - Q Magazine)
#EnescuSkinnedAlive #TomaEnache #RomanianFilm #Cinema #GeorgeEnescu
#ClassicalMusic #IndependentFilm
We are waiting for you to meet ENESCU!
For more details regarding the above event, please contact the organizing entity: ,Asociația C.L.A. La Steaua, CIF ,12708800 BUCHAREST
