Checking out the old-school charm of Roumania

Is this worth your time?

If you're a history buff or someone who gets a kick out of old-fashioned travel reels, you might actually enjoy this. But if you’re looking for a plot, or honestly, anything resembling a modern pace, you are going to be bored out of your skull.

It’s not for the casual viewer who wants thrills. It’s for the person who likes to sit in a dark room and watch grainy footage of people in 1920s outfits walking around cobblestone streets. 🎥

The whole thing feels a bit like a home movie that got fancy, but it’s still just a home movie. Queen Marie pops up, and honestly, the interview is pretty stiff, but you can’t help but stare at the crown and the general vibe of the whole thing. It reminded me a bit of the awkward sit-downs in The Lights of New York, just with more royalty and less shouting.

The scenery, though.

The castles are the real stars here. They look like they were pulled straight out of a storybook, all sharp peaks and stone walls that look like they’ve seen about a thousand winters too many. You can almost feel the cold air coming off the screen in those shots.

Then it cuts back to Bucharest, and the traffic—well, the horse-drawn carts—look so chaotic compared to the quiet of the mountains. It’s a strange shift in rhythm. The editor didn’t seem to care much about smooth transitions, just throwing images together like they were pinning postcards to a corkboard.

• That one shot of the countryside that lasts about ten seconds too long.
• The way the Queen sits—it’s like she’s trying not to wrinkle her dress.
• The grainy quality makes everything look like a dream you had once.

I found myself wondering if anyone actually lived in those castles or if they were just kept around to look pretty for cameras like this. The movie doesn't bother to tell you, which is totally fine. It’s more interested in the light hitting the stone than explaining the architecture.

It lacks the narrative punch of something like The Clodhopper, but it isn’t trying to be that, is it? It’s just an artifact. A weird, slightly dusty artifact. Sometimes it’s nice to watch something that doesn't demand you care about the characters. You just look, and then it ends.

If you’ve got fifteen minutes to kill and you want to feel like you’re snooping through a box of old photos in an attic, this is perfect. If not, maybe skip it. No hard feelings. 🏰