Watching Leiba Zibal felt like a weird time machine to old Romania

You should watch this if you actually care about how movies looked before everything became a giant CGI soup. It’s great for people who like dusty history and dramas where a single look can last ten seconds.

If you need things to blow up every five minutes, you will probably hate this. It is slow, the film grain is thick, and sometimes it feels like the actors are waiting for someone to tell them what to do next.

The whole thing centers on Leiba Zibal. He’s a Jewish man living in Romania between the wars, and he’s actually doing okay for himself financially.

Most movies from this time make the 'rise to wealth' part feel like a montage, but here it feels heavy. You can almost smell the old paper money and the sweat in the shop. 💰

Then there is Maria. Leiba loves her, but of course, it isn't that simple because this is a drama and dramas need problems.

Enter Gheorghe. The description calls him an 'argot,' which I think is a typo for a servant or a worker, but honestly, he just acts like a guy who’s super jealous.

Gheorghe is the kind of character who spends a lot of time lurking in the shadows. He’s got this look in his eyes that says he wants Leiba’s money and his girl, and maybe his life too.

There’s a scene early on where Leiba is counting money and the camera just stays on his fingers for way too long. It’s supposed to show his success, but it starts to feel a bit uncomfortable, like we are spying on him.

I kept thinking about Children of Fate while watching this. Both movies have that same heavy atmosphere where you just know things aren't going to end well for the nice people.

The acting is very... theatrical? Ion Niculescu-Bruna plays Leiba with a lot of sighing and hand-wringing. It’s a bit much sometimes, but it fits the vibe of the 1930s.

I noticed the sets look like they might fall over if someone sneezes too hard. Especially the indoor scenes where the walls look suspiciously like painted cloth.

The Good and the Weird Stuff

• The way they filmed the streets of interwar Romania is actually really cool to see.
• Gheorghe’s mustache is basically its own character. It’s very pointy.
• The music (if you see a version with the score) is sometimes way too loud for what is happening on screen.
• There’s a weirdly long shot of a door that doesn't seem to lead to anything.

Maria, played by Tantzy Economu, doesn't get as much to do as I wanted. She’s mostly there to be the thing the two men fight over, which is a bit of a bummer.

She has this one expression of pure terror when Gheorghe is around that actually felt real. It made me sit up a bit straighter in my chair.

The rivalry between the two men reminded me of the tension in The Final Close-Up, though that one is a totally different genre. It’s that same feeling of someone watching you from across the room.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Leiba zibal (1930) through its definitive frames.

The movie gets way more interesting once the 'love intrigue' kicks in. Before that, it’s just a lot of business talk and Leiba looking at ledgers.

I wonder if the director realized how scary Gheorghe actually looks. There’s a moment where he’s standing behind a fence and he looks like a horror movie villain.

It’s not a perfect film, obviously. The pacing is weird—some parts move fast and then it just stops for a five-minute conversation about nothing important.

It feels like they were figuring out how to tell a story while they were filming it. That’s part of the charm, I guess.

If you’ve seen Retribution, you’ll recognize that specific style of old-school melodrama where everything is life or death. Even a cup of coffee feels like a life-or-death situation here.

I did find myself checking my phone once or twice during the middle section. There’s a lot of walking. People in 1930s movies really loved to walk from one side of the room to the other very slowly. 🚶‍♂️

But then the ending starts to ramp up and you forget about the slow parts. The competition between Leiba and Gheorghe gets nasty.

It’s a shame more people haven't heard of this one. It’s a better character study than half the stuff that came out of Hollywood back then, even if it’s a bit rough around the edges.

Is it a masterpiece? Probably not. But it’s got a soul, which is more than I can say for Something Always Happens.

Random Notes I Scribbled Down:

• Why are the hats so big? Seriously, they look like they’re about to fall off.
• The lighting in the shop is actually pretty moody and nice.
• Leiba’s house looks way too clean for someone living in that era.
• I think I saw a cat in the background of one scene that definitely wasn't supposed to be there.

If you find a copy of this, give it a chance. Just make sure you have some coffee nearby to get through the first twenty minutes.

The ending stays with you for a bit. It’s not a happy-clappy Hollywood ending, which I appreciate. It feels honest to the time and place.

It’s a movie about how money can't really protect you from people who are just plain mean. 🎞️

I might watch it again just to see if I missed anything about that 'argot' subplot. It felt like there was a whole extra movie hidden in those interactions.

Anyway, it’s worth a look if you’re tired of the usual stuff. Just don't expect a polished gem.