Amza Pellea is best remembered by the Romanians as portraying Nea Marin (Uncle Marin), a not very educated, but witty and talkative Oltenian peasant, who delighted everyone with his funny stories, during TV shows. In 1978, he was subject for a movie, "Nea Marin Miliardar" (Uncle Marin Billionaire) directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu. While at the seaside, Nea Marin is mistaken for a rich American businessman, Mr. Juvette (also played by Amza Pellea), whose daughter has been kidnapped. This confusion leads to a lot of funny situations, involving a suitcase full of dollars, two rival mobster gangs, Nea Marin’s nephew, Suca, his fierce wife, Veta, and a detective (played by Puiu Calinescu) who parodies the popular character Columbo.

The Romanian cinema’s appetite for comedy is also proven by the B.D. series. B.D. is the Romanian acronym for Various Brigade, a team of policemen, lead by a character played by another great actor, Toma Caragiu (1925 – 1977), dealing with different crimes: thefts, counterfeit money, scams and drug dealing. The action’s easiness is compensated by the humorous dialogues and the characters of three small clumsy unlucky cons, played by Puiu Calinescu, Jean Constantin and Dem Radulescu, who always find themselves in the middle of the plot and end up in prison.

A different kind of comedy is Operatiunea Monstrul (Operation Monster), appeared in 1976 and directed by Manole Marcus. A Communist enterprise manager (Toma Caragiu), his deputy (Octavian Cottescu), a couple of their employees and a slightly sociopath writer go on a fishing trip, while their wives think they are on a business trip. Their goal is to catch the biggest fish in those waters, also known as the Monster. Nothing spectacular happens, but the exceptional interpretations and subtle script offer a hilarious perspective of the contrast between flamboyant words and petty achievements.

Morometii (1988), directed by Stere Gulea is generally considered  the pinnacle of Romanian cinematography before the fall of the Communist regime. The story is the adaptation of a novel by Marin Preda and revolves around a peasant’s family, between the two world wars. The main character is played by Victor Rebengiuc, who delivers his lifetime performance as Ilie Moromete, a father trying to preserve his family’s unity, a peasant trying to survive and a man trying to remain socially active, while exterior forces strongly accelerate the community’s desintegration. The rest of the cast (Luminita Gheorghiu, Mitica Popescu, Dorel Visan, Florin Zamfirescu, Ilie Gheorghe) is also at their best.

A Romanian village is, literally and figuratively, a colorful universe, but the director chose to shoot the movie in black and white; this proved to be an excellent choice, as the old looking images augmented the feeling of authenticity and focused the attention on the characters’ internal struggles.