Movie Screening: Michael the Brave

Michael the Brave (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul) is a Romanian historic epic film, directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu and starring Amza Pellea in the leading role. The film is a representation of the life of Wallachia’s ruler Michael The Brave, and his will to unite the three Romanian principalities (Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania) into one country. The film was released in 1970 in Romania, and worldwide by Columbia Pictures as The Last Crusade.

The film is the most viewed Romanian film worldwide It was Romania’s entry for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1972, but was not accepted as a nominee. At the Moscow International Film Festival in 1971, it won a Golden Award, but lost to Bilyy ptakh z chornoyu vidznakoyu (The White Bird Marked with Black). Nevertheless, it won at the Beaume Historic Film Festival in 1974, ahead of El Cid.
With a rating on 8.4 on Internet Movie Database, it is rated as the twentieth best historic film of all time. It is considered 18th in the biography category, 40th in the war category, 34th in the action category. The director himself, Sergiu Nicolaescu, declared that he was impressed by the rating especially as it is an American website and the film was released four decades before