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Doctor Schileru's life is an endless
source of inspiration.

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00:00:05,770 --> 00:00:09,440
Two literary works
have been written about him:

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00:00:09,610 --> 00:00:13,760
the short story ''Thirty-eight point two''
and ''The Balance'', a novel,

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00:00:13,810 --> 00:00:18,400
as well as two feature films,
''Red Apples'' and ''The Oak''.

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00:00:20,610 --> 00:00:23,760
For now !

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00:00:31,530 --> 00:00:41,360
THIRTY EIGHT POINT TWO

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00:00:43,130 --> 00:00:45,120
I came into this world
in Râmnicu Vâlcea, or, should I say,

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my mother brought me
into this world.

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00:00:46,570 --> 00:00:49,130
Or, should I say,
the doctor brought me into this world,

10
00:00:49,250 --> 00:00:50,600
because he brought me out
with a forceps,

11
00:00:50,730 --> 00:00:53,080
I still have marks, on my head.
You know ?

12
00:00:53,170 --> 00:00:56,680
That was on the boulevard,
over the way from the old post office,

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00:00:56,810 --> 00:01:00,430
in a building
that's not there anymore.

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00:01:01,010 --> 00:01:04,710
There was a photographer
in the building too, you know ?

15
00:01:05,210 --> 00:01:08,520
From there we moved
to Captain Negoescu Street,

16
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to Aunty Sita Capeleanu's house.

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She was kin to my grandma.

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- Red apples -
''Narcisa !''

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''- Morning !
- Morning !''

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''It is a nice day today.
But the rains are coming.''

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''Hear about rain,
I think of the hangman.''

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''Have you seen my Narcisa,
my white cat ?''

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''No, Mrs. Ionescu.
I did not see any cat.''

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That's kind of how it was.

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I don't remember
the moment I was born,

26
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but I remember after that.

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Cause I was in that building for a long time.
Until the communists came.

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They tore it all up and built
the barracks you see now.

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''THE OAK''

30
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Screenplay by
LUCIAN PINTILIE
After ''The Balance'' novel by ION BĂIEŞU

31
00:02:18,490 --> 00:02:21,480
I had a happy childhood.
I was an only child.

32
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My father was a professor
of pedagogy and philosophy

33
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and my mother was very talented
at painting and other things like that.

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All the attention
was directed towards me.

35
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I was barely seven and I was straddling
the fence, the gate of the hospital building.

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All of a sudden an oxcart came up.
It stopped in front of the hospital.

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The man picked up
the woman in his arms.

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They looked like Michaelangelo's Pieta,
from the Vatican, Saint Peter's you know ?

39
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The guard wouldn't let them in.

40
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I guess there was some problem,
because the guard wouldn't let them in.

41
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I guess it was something about money,
from what I could see.

42
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It was then I made up my mind
to become a doctor.

43
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Doctor Schileru

44
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I was in my first or second year
of high school, during the war.

45
00:03:31,130 --> 00:03:34,320
A film by
DIANA DELEANU

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There wasn't just
that hospital here.

47
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All the schools had been turned
into hospitals for the wounded.

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In the beginning I was friends
with Vasilică.

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A child, he went to the front
when he was 18

50
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and came back without
his arms and legs.

51
00:03:55,850 --> 00:03:59,160
Such was the great enthusiasm
for Romania to be,

52
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as the poet Eminescu said:
''from Nistru to Tisa''.

53
00:04:03,690 --> 00:04:07,040
That poor Romanians went to war
to build their old country again.

54
00:04:07,170 --> 00:04:11,400
The result ? Well, you know it.
Communism. The exact opposite.

55
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It was then I started going
to the hospital,

56
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first to see my friend Vasilică
and then to lend a hand.

57
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So I became
''the hospital kid''.

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Here, in Râmnicu Vâlcea,
lived Gheorghe Lungu,

59
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a former heavyweight professional
boxing champion.

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He was a very decent man.

61
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He set up fights
with different boxers

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and we kids opened for them.

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I was 13 years old
when I started.

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Soon after that I became
a professional.

65
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I was very passionate when boxing.
I loved boxing very much.

66
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At that time I didn't really know
how to box, but I was full of energy.

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I saw stars,
but it didn't matter.

68
00:05:03,530 --> 00:05:05,910
Everybody told me I would have
an incredible career,

69
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but it was cut off in '48
the COMMUNISTS,

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here's when I quit
professional boxing.

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I wanted nothing to do
with communist propaganda.

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I told them all to go to hell.

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00:05:18,170 --> 00:05:19,480
- The Oak -
''- Are you nervous ?
- Yes.''

74
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''Do you know we've never kissed even
though we've been living together for...''

75
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''Seven days of which five I spent in jail.
So what are you saying ?''

76
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''Nothing.
It was just an observation.''

77
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''What do you wanna do, hun ?
Get hitched ?''

78
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Bad timing. You never know
when love will come around.

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Love is the greatest thing in life.

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Like Jesus says, you don't have love,
you don't have nothing.

81
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Nothing is like loving
and being loved.

82
00:06:03,490 --> 00:06:08,880
Her parents wouldn't let her marry me,
because I was just a kid.

83
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I was just finishing high school,
we were both 18,

84
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you know, what could we do ?
Run away ?

85
00:06:23,690 --> 00:06:30,320
It was on the 3rd of July, in Târgu Jiu,
the town hall clock rang midnight,

86
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she shows up with two suitcases,
she's shivering all over,

87
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at my grandparent's house on
the boulevard by the train station.

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We hopped a train to Vâlcea.
Nobody knew anything.

89
00:06:47,530 --> 00:06:52,550
When we got there,
my mother was so excited

90
00:06:52,650 --> 00:06:56,920
she cooked the beans
with lamp oil instead of cooking oil.

91
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Of course she was.
I was her son.

92
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Then we went to the University,
we passed the tests, both of us.

93
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We had our own room.

94
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I don't want to tell you everything
we endured, the cold, the hunger. Awful !

95
00:07:30,890 --> 00:07:35,120
In the end,
our fellow students helped us.

96
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They got us a room
with access to a kitchen.

97
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Good enough !
In Vasile Alecsandri Street in Cluj.

98
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We had a big crate, we kept our kids in it,
they were small enough.

99
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One came after the other.

100
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Later I transplanted them
to my mother's house, in Vâlcea.

101
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- Red apples -
''- Which one you want ?
- Doesn't matter, any of them will do.''

102
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''Give me the red one.''

103
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When I graduated,
I had four children.

104
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They assigned us jobs,
you know, like the communists did.

105
00:08:03,490 --> 00:08:05,240
Nobody asked anybody
what they wanted.

106
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It was different with me.
Me, I told them I wanted to go home,

107
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because I had four children.

108
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My wife, they sent her here,
a doctor in the lab.

109
00:08:18,850 --> 00:08:21,840
What makes life worthwhile ?
The woman.

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The woman is the most beautiful
monument of nature.

111
00:08:26,010 --> 00:08:30,160
I'm old. So ?
Don't I have eyes ? Am I blind ?

112
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Whatever is beautiful,
you know God loves it.

113
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In the end, I got a job at
the Syndicate Central Council in Călimăneşti.

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But they wanted a clerk doctor,
not a surgeon.

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The only thing I dreamed of being
was a surgeon, ever since I was a child.

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- Red apples -
''I pray you, do not move do not breathe.''

117
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I didn't give up.

118
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I went to see Constantin Pârvulescu.
He was from Olăneşti.

119
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He worked at the Central Committee
of the Romanian Communist Party.

120
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I told him my story.
I told him the short version of it.

121
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- Red apples -
''Right. Fine.''

122
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He appointed me radiologist here.

123
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- Red apples -
''OK. Dismissed...''

124
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I did seven months in radiology,
something like that.

125
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I got out quickly.

126
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I rode my bicycle to Craiova.
To the hospital there.

127
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I remember what a smile
Doctor Ciril Popovici had.

128
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God rest his soul,
him and Doctor Toniţa's.

129
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He said to me:
''Here you go. You like it ?''

130
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''Sure, I like it.''
I said.

131
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Thirty beds for me to take care of.

132
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There was one case I'll never forget.
I was in Craiova during a night shift.

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00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:08,520
A man came
in with a huge belly.

134
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A very tall thin man,
with a distended belly.

135
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I had to operate on him, because I couldn't
even get a tube down his throat.

136
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His vital signs were already poor.
While I was scrubbing up,

137
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the nurse who was preparing him
for surgery told me he had died.

138
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No way !
I asked for a pair of surgical gloves.

139
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I wanted to know why he had died.
I cut him open, no anaesthesia.

140
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His belly was full of bean seeds,
and had exploded.

141
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Then he started to breathe.

142
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Believe it or not,
this is the truth.

143
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His name was Pârvu.
I'll never forget his name.

144
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He came to his senses and after ten days
he underwent a stomach resection.

145
00:11:08,410 --> 00:11:11,680
I go to Craiova from time to time.
Once a guy stopped me and greeted me.

146
00:11:11,810 --> 00:11:16,640
''You don't remember me'' he said.
''No, I don't'' I said.

147
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''I am Pârvu.''
He had two small children.

148
00:11:21,450 --> 00:11:26,680
These are the stories that
give me satisfaction in my work.

149
00:11:27,170 --> 00:11:31,520
And I did something everyone knows
I did in Craiova.

150
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I took my bicycle and went
to Bucharest to take an examination.

151
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Surprise !

152
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The posts for urology
were all gone,

153
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and the examination was now going
to be for general surgery.

154
00:11:56,730 --> 00:12:02,000
I tried to talk with somebody.
But with who ? They were idiots.

155
00:12:02,090 --> 00:12:06,280
I was sure they were all members
of the Communist Party.

156
00:12:06,330 --> 00:12:08,960
They didn't understand
anything I told them.

157
00:12:09,250 --> 00:12:12,480
I got angry. I got on my bicycle
and went to the Ministry of Health.

158
00:12:12,570 --> 00:12:19,880
Who had time to talk to a nobody like me ?
Not a soul.

159
00:12:21,210 --> 00:12:24,680
I was desperate
and wanted satisfaction.

160
00:12:24,770 --> 00:12:30,640
I picked up the phone...
I don't remember the cost of a phone call.

161
00:12:31,730 --> 00:12:34,920
I phoned the Central Committee
of the Communist Party.

162
00:12:35,050 --> 00:12:38,440
I had the good luck to be heard by
a sympathetic man. I told my story.

163
00:12:38,570 --> 00:12:43,430
I told him I had used money I needed
to buy food for my five children.

164
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I had come to Bucharest on my bicycle
to take an examination

165
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as advertised in the newspaper.

166
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Only to be told the examination
was no longer taking place.

167
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He asked me where I was.
I told him I was in Bucharest.

168
00:13:01,050 --> 00:13:02,800
''Are you far away from
the Central Committee ?'' he asked.

169
00:13:02,850 --> 00:13:04,320
''No, I'll be there after a while.
I'm on my bicycle.''

170
00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:07,120
He was surprised that I came
such a long way by bicycle.

171
00:13:07,530 --> 00:13:11,310
I left my bicycle in front of
the Central Committee, at the entrance.

172
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Believe it or not, he came
to the gate to escort me inside.

173
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I had the experience of encountering
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej face to face.

174
00:13:19,690 --> 00:13:22,360
Later I saw him dead.

175
00:13:23,930 --> 00:13:26,440
I am usually fearless,

176
00:13:26,970 --> 00:13:33,840
but at that moment, as a man of 29,
I felt a lump in my throat,

177
00:13:33,930 --> 00:13:36,490
''What happened ?'' he asked me.
And I began to tell him my story.

178
00:13:36,570 --> 00:13:44,520
I came to take an examination,
but the examination had ended.

179
00:13:45,170 --> 00:13:50,000
He had a few buttons
on his desk.

180
00:13:50,050 --> 00:13:56,310
He pushed one of them and
the deputy minister, Berlogea, came in.

181
00:13:56,450 --> 00:13:58,720
''Do you have the courage to take
the examination now ?'' he asked me.

182
00:13:58,770 --> 00:13:59,750
''Of course.'' I answered.

183
00:13:59,890 --> 00:14:02,270
''- Are you sure ?
- I'm positive.''

184
00:14:02,490 --> 00:14:06,080
I got his approval
and went to take the examination.

185
00:14:08,570 --> 00:14:12,720
I passed the examination and I left,
satisfied with myself.

186
00:14:12,810 --> 00:14:18,000
I went to Fundeni Hospital
on my bicycle

187
00:14:18,250 --> 00:14:22,120
where I worked for one year.

188
00:14:22,170 --> 00:14:26,600
I had decided
to go back to Râmnicu Vâlcea

189
00:14:26,650 --> 00:14:29,640
where I would become
the chief doctor of Emergency.

190
00:14:29,770 --> 00:14:36,840
I wanted satisfaction from them,
not to beg from them.

191
00:14:39,290 --> 00:14:42,800
I had the degree in urology now
so I came back to Râmnicu Vâlcea.

192
00:14:42,890 --> 00:14:45,960
- Red apples -
''I came here as an urologist.
I was sent here to prepare''

193
00:14:46,090 --> 00:14:50,080
''the future urology section
and I'll keep on working here no matter''

194
00:14:50,210 --> 00:14:52,590
''what you believe, think or wish.''

195
00:14:52,970 --> 00:14:55,800
''I don't work for money or for success.
I work because I like my job.''

196
00:14:55,930 --> 00:15:09,200
Doctor Vlădescu, my former teacher,
was suddenly no longer supportive.

197
00:15:10,330 --> 00:15:13,720
- Red apples -
''I'll continue to handle all the cases
that fall within my capability.''

198
00:15:13,850 --> 00:15:19,160
They had to give me some beds,
two wards on the right side of the hospital.

199
00:15:19,290 --> 00:15:23,120
- Red apples -
''Two. I got those two wards legally
and I won't give them to anyone.''

200
00:15:23,650 --> 00:15:25,120
''Not even if you bring in the police.''

201
00:15:25,250 --> 00:15:32,160
Unfortunately, in Romania,
instead of helping people to do something

202
00:15:32,290 --> 00:15:35,280
you reject them because,
for one reason or another,

203
00:15:35,370 --> 00:15:38,000
I mean no offence
to those in question,

204
00:15:38,130 --> 00:15:40,200
you will step on the toes
of those who demand bribes.

205
00:15:40,290 --> 00:15:43,480
- Red apples -
''I know very well that you accept money
and gifts from patients,''

206
00:15:43,610 --> 00:15:45,560
''but I've never accepted anything
from anyone.''

207
00:15:45,690 --> 00:15:47,760
''Are you convinced I accept money
from patients ?''

208
00:15:47,890 --> 00:15:49,640
''Yes, I am. You have a car, a mansion.
Where from ?''

209
00:15:49,770 --> 00:15:50,960
''From your salary ?''

210
00:15:51,050 --> 00:15:55,360
''Comrade Dr. Mitică Irod, what would you say
if I slapyour face for such an insult ?''

211
00:15:55,450 --> 00:15:58,040
''Comrade Hospital Director, that wouldn't
be wise, I told you I used to box.''

212
00:15:58,170 --> 00:16:02,640
I operated, but let's not talk
about numbers and quantity.

213
00:16:02,690 --> 00:16:07,840
I never took a bribe.

214
00:16:08,290 --> 00:16:11,480
I've never accepted anything
from someone's pocket.

215
00:16:11,570 --> 00:16:15,680
- Red apples -
''This discussion shows who you really are
and you have one chance left.''

216
00:16:15,730 --> 00:16:19,200
In 1962...

217
00:16:20,170 --> 00:16:21,640
- Red apples -
''Get a transfer and leave.''

218
00:16:21,770 --> 00:16:27,720
A child from the countryside with
a kidney stone... came to me for an operation.

219
00:16:28,090 --> 00:16:29,520
- Red apples -
''Why should I leave ? Why ?''

220
00:16:29,610 --> 00:16:30,830
I operated on him.

221
00:16:30,930 --> 00:16:37,400
During the surgery I noticed
he also had a tumor.

222
00:16:37,890 --> 00:16:40,040
I published this case
in Acta Urologica Belgica.

223
00:16:40,090 --> 00:16:41,070
- Red apples -
''Why ?''

224
00:16:41,130 --> 00:16:46,120
''Because you're ugly, miserable
and without any private life''

225
00:16:46,250 --> 00:16:48,710
''and you try to create for yourself
a scientist's aura''

226
00:16:48,850 --> 00:16:51,120
''as if you are being sacrificed
on the altar of science.''

227
00:16:51,250 --> 00:16:59,520
I took the tumor and the kidney stone out
and also made a kind of a support.

228
00:16:59,810 --> 00:17:02,370
- Red apples -
''Unlike you I'm really qualified
because I know how to do my job.''

229
00:17:02,490 --> 00:17:04,640
''I just want to do my job.
That's all I want !''

230
00:17:04,730 --> 00:17:09,670
Today the child I operated on
is a doctor, and his child is a doctor.

231
00:17:09,770 --> 00:17:11,960
- Red apples -
''You have only one chance.
The transfer.''

232
00:17:12,050 --> 00:17:14,200
These are my rewards
in my profession as a doctor.

233
00:17:14,290 --> 00:17:17,800
- Red apples -
''If you don't transfer out by noon,
we're going to liquidate you !''

234
00:17:17,970 --> 00:17:24,310
THIRTY EIGHT POINT TWO
For doctor Grigore Schileru

235
00:17:24,450 --> 00:17:31,600
The day I left, in 1963,
at the end of the year,

236
00:17:34,250 --> 00:17:38,120
I rode my bicycle,
because from here I left for Ploieşti.

237
00:17:38,690 --> 00:17:46,000
Veni, vidi, vici. I won but I wasn't
proud for I had no worthy adversary.

238
00:17:46,130 --> 00:17:50,560
I told them goodbye,
got on my bicycle and left for Ploieşti.

239
00:17:50,930 --> 00:17:58,840
At Petrolul Hospital one of the nurses
had severe kidney problems.

240
00:17:59,250 --> 00:18:03,760
She had to have her kidney removed.
I examined her and then operated on her.

241
00:18:03,890 --> 00:18:07,510
She had a massive hydronephrosis.
It was a pyeloplasty.

242
00:18:07,650 --> 00:18:12,000
It wasn't too severe,
but at that time and place

243
00:18:12,330 --> 00:18:15,640
it seemed an impossible operation.
And yet I did it.

244
00:18:15,770 --> 00:18:18,480
She recovered and was fine.

245
00:18:19,370 --> 00:18:25,920
Today, after forty years, she came
with her husband for his checkup.

246
00:18:26,010 --> 00:18:30,560
Out of curiosity, I wanted her
to have an echography, to see her kidney.

247
00:18:30,690 --> 00:18:32,120
It was absolutely normal.

248
00:18:32,250 --> 00:18:34,520
- Red apples -
''- Comrade doctor !
- What happened ?''

249
00:18:34,770 --> 00:18:36,840
''This woman gave birth
to twin girls''

250
00:18:36,970 --> 00:18:39,240
''and her husband beat her
because she didn't make boys.''

251
00:18:39,330 --> 00:18:44,240
''You can't imagine her agony.
Contractions for 24 hours.''

252
00:18:44,730 --> 00:18:48,200
''She's so thin but he still beat her,
the bastard !''

253
00:18:54,090 --> 00:18:57,400
Out of 39 boxing fights
I've never lost one.

254
00:18:57,490 --> 00:19:01,160
- Red apples -
''Let her rest for a while.
Try to calm down...''

255
00:19:03,450 --> 00:19:06,960
''Comrade doctor ! Comrade doctor !
Shall I call the police ?''

256
00:19:07,050 --> 00:19:11,910
Just look the other way.
I'm not keen on such things.

257
00:19:12,170 --> 00:19:15,560
- Red apples -
''Don't worry about it.
I made sure that I got one in first.''

258
00:19:15,650 --> 00:19:19,880
I couldn't stop there,
and I became a boxing coach.

259
00:19:20,090 --> 00:19:27,200
I've trained 400 boys in my life.
They are all boxers at the school.

260
00:19:27,330 --> 00:19:31,200
My greatest achievement was
the boxing school in Ploieşti

261
00:19:31,290 --> 00:19:33,800
which I started, in 1963.

262
00:19:35,210 --> 00:19:36,920
I took advantage
of my profession

263
00:19:37,010 --> 00:19:42,680
and of the big shots from the petrol industry,
who I had eating out of my hands.

264
00:19:42,810 --> 00:19:46,160
I used to have a saying:
''He who doesn't piss dies.''

265
00:19:46,890 --> 00:19:50,510
The whole world helped me.

266
00:19:50,570 --> 00:19:57,120
All the coaches from Ploieşti were
my students or my students' students.

267
00:19:57,250 --> 00:20:03,400
Once in awhile I would give somebody
or other a punch in his liver

268
00:20:03,530 --> 00:20:07,600
to show him I meant business.

269
00:20:07,690 --> 00:20:10,150
- The Oak -
''- You, comrade doctor...
- I'm listening.''

270
00:20:10,290 --> 00:20:13,240
''- Your act is unspeakable.
- Yes...''

271
00:20:13,330 --> 00:20:18,400
''You kicked a man and disfigured him.
You have no right to be a doctor.''

272
00:20:18,530 --> 00:20:21,920
''- You are at best a hooligan.
- A moment please.''

273
00:20:22,010 --> 00:20:26,840
I had to deal with so many crooks,
that instead of wasting time with arguments

274
00:20:26,970 --> 00:20:29,960
I would tell them
that I didn't know how to argue.

275
00:20:30,050 --> 00:20:32,120
You want to fight ?
Let's go.

276
00:20:32,210 --> 00:20:36,160
- The Oak -
''If you say I'm a hooligan,
at least don't say it for nothing.''

277
00:20:40,970 --> 00:20:43,320
''You've done yourself in !''

278
00:20:47,250 --> 00:20:50,320
I'm nobody special,
just a man who loves freedom.

279
00:20:50,410 --> 00:20:52,970
That's how I was brought up.

280
00:20:53,050 --> 00:20:57,640
Now I'm an old man and I haven't got
the strength for politics.

281
00:20:57,730 --> 00:21:01,040
But what I wouldn't do to them
all if I were younger.

282
00:21:01,090 --> 00:21:03,040
Lord, I'd finish them all.

283
00:21:03,170 --> 00:21:05,040
- The Oak -
''Comrade prosecutor wants
to talk to you.''

284
00:21:05,130 --> 00:21:06,350
''He has to wait in the hallway.''

285
00:21:06,450 --> 00:21:09,280
If these people had the dignity
they used to have,

286
00:21:09,410 --> 00:21:12,400
the dignity that was destroyed
by the communists,

287
00:21:12,490 --> 00:21:14,240
they would take to the streets...

288
00:21:14,370 --> 00:21:17,320
- The Oak -
''- Comrade doctor, you...
- He's waiting in the hallway !''

289
00:21:17,850 --> 00:21:21,600
What hurts me most is that the people
hung their heads in submission

290
00:21:21,690 --> 00:21:24,680
like during the days Russian
tanks were here

291
00:21:24,810 --> 00:21:30,360
and the Securitate, secret police,
also a Russian organ, did what it wanted.

292
00:21:30,610 --> 00:21:34,120
I can tell you,
because I was arrested several times.

293
00:21:34,210 --> 00:21:37,000
- The Oak -
''Comrade colonel wishes
to speak to you.''

294
00:21:37,090 --> 00:21:39,650
''And I wish for him
to kiss my ass.''

295
00:21:39,730 --> 00:21:43,560
I was being interrogated
day and night by imbeciles,

296
00:21:43,650 --> 00:21:47,640
who asked me stupid questions.
Of course I led them by the nose.

297
00:21:48,330 --> 00:21:51,080
- The Oak -
''Doctor, what would have happened
to you for those words''

298
00:21:51,170 --> 00:21:52,600
''if you were not a doctor...''

299
00:21:52,730 --> 00:21:55,720
''What would have happened
to me...''

300
00:21:55,810 --> 00:21:57,800
''I would have kicked your butt.''

301
00:21:57,930 --> 00:22:01,200
I remember the Securitate Commander
came around, from Piteşti,

302
00:22:01,290 --> 00:22:05,440
where they were killing
the Romanian young people.

303
00:22:06,050 --> 00:22:07,560
I led him by the nose too.

304
00:22:07,650 --> 00:22:12,040
- The Oak -
''Doctor, has someone
ever insulted your mother ?''

305
00:22:12,090 --> 00:22:16,080
''My mother ? When I was small.
Now as an adult, I don't recall.''

306
00:22:16,130 --> 00:22:20,520
''You should know someone insulted
my mother this morning at 6:45.''

307
00:22:20,570 --> 00:22:23,440
''- Why ?
- Because of you.''

308
00:22:23,530 --> 00:22:25,560
''- Who swore at you ?
- Comrade Prime Secretary.''

309
00:22:25,650 --> 00:22:27,720
''Don't make a big deal
out of that.''

310
00:22:27,850 --> 00:22:30,230
''Why do you say he swore at you
because of me ?''

311
00:22:30,370 --> 00:22:33,560
''I'll tell you why. You operated on
a woman last night, correct ?''

312
00:22:33,650 --> 00:22:34,870
''- Right.
- What was her condition ?''

313
00:22:34,970 --> 00:22:36,190
''Perforated ulcer.''

314
00:22:36,290 --> 00:22:38,590
''- Do you know who that woman was ?
- No, I don't.''

315
00:22:38,690 --> 00:22:42,000
''- She was the Prime Secretary's wife.
- So what ?''

316
00:22:42,450 --> 00:22:44,320
''That's the problem.''

317
00:22:44,450 --> 00:22:46,880
''The Prime Secretary asked for
the best surgeon in town.''

318
00:22:47,010 --> 00:22:48,520
''He was told that you
are the best.''

319
00:22:48,610 --> 00:22:50,440
That was the situation.

320
00:22:50,530 --> 00:22:51,960
- The Oak -
''Go on, I'm listening.''

321
00:22:52,050 --> 00:22:53,920
''After you performed the operation
he wanted to thank you.''

322
00:22:54,050 --> 00:22:57,400
''- So...
- Indeed.''

323
00:22:57,810 --> 00:22:59,600
''And it was then he found out
that you were under arrest''

324
00:22:59,690 --> 00:23:02,680
''and that they let you out
to operate.''

325
00:23:02,810 --> 00:23:04,160
''And ?''

326
00:23:04,330 --> 00:23:06,890
''And he called for me
and for the general prosecutor.''

327
00:23:07,010 --> 00:23:11,560
''What problem could you have
with a doctor of his reputation.''

328
00:23:12,330 --> 00:23:14,710
''You should thank him
and kiss his feet''

329
00:23:14,810 --> 00:23:17,800
''for he could have been working in Bucharest
but instead he remained here.''

330
00:23:17,930 --> 00:23:21,960
''And for what ? Arrest ? Because he kicked
ass on some crooked, drunk prosecutor''

331
00:23:22,090 --> 00:23:24,280
''we should've gotten rid
of a long time ago ?''

332
00:23:24,370 --> 00:23:25,800
''Is this the kind of man
you send to prison ?''

333
00:23:25,890 --> 00:23:32,400
I was never impressed by these big shots
or these animals that mock people.

334
00:23:32,490 --> 00:23:35,240
Not at all.

335
00:23:35,650 --> 00:23:37,120
- The Oak -
''And then ?''

336
00:23:37,250 --> 00:23:39,810
''Then the general prosecutor
appealed.''

337
00:23:39,930 --> 00:23:42,760
''Two hours ago your case
went to trial again''

338
00:23:42,890 --> 00:23:47,400
''while you were resting,
and you were acquitted.''

339
00:23:47,850 --> 00:23:50,080
''And you say there's
no democracy in our country.''

340
00:23:50,210 --> 00:23:52,920
They are nobodies !
Bastards !

341
00:23:53,250 --> 00:23:56,040
- The Oak -
''They are Securitate officers,
as you all know,''

342
00:23:56,130 --> 00:23:59,000
''but you act like you don't know.''

343
00:23:59,490 --> 00:24:02,440
''They were here doing their job
and we know what their mission was,''

344
00:24:02,570 --> 00:24:04,840
''but we have no intention
to give you any information.''

345
00:24:04,970 --> 00:24:06,110
''Isn't that true ?''

346
00:24:06,250 --> 00:24:08,160
Beasts !

347
00:24:08,290 --> 00:24:13,840
There's nothing for me to say,
because piles of paper were written about it,

348
00:24:13,970 --> 00:24:18,680
and the blood of
the unfortunate ran in rivers.

349
00:24:18,810 --> 00:24:23,800
The Romanian intellectuals
were sacrificed. Quickly.

350
00:24:24,170 --> 00:24:27,000
There was no other solution.
Depersonalization.

351
00:24:27,130 --> 00:24:30,750
To say ''Bravo !''
to those complete imbeciles.

352
00:24:31,210 --> 00:24:34,440
- The Oak -
''Do you see the luggage rack
on top of the car in the front yard ?''

353
00:24:40,330 --> 00:24:47,200
''It's there for them to take stuff home
grapes, potatoes, wine,''

354
00:24:47,290 --> 00:24:49,480
''whatever is available,
if it comes available.''

355
00:24:50,050 --> 00:24:53,800
''This is the present life
of the city folk of Romania,''

356
00:24:53,890 --> 00:24:56,840
''that of the most privileged one:
the Securitate official.''

357
00:24:56,930 --> 00:25:01,680
I have no words to describe
the misfortune that befell this people.

358
00:25:01,810 --> 00:25:08,070
Because these worthless creatures
are around even today.

359
00:25:08,130 --> 00:25:11,440
Look how hard it is for Romania
to enter the European community.

360
00:25:11,530 --> 00:25:16,000
Corruption, misfortune,
Mafiosi still in important positions.

361
00:25:16,890 --> 00:25:18,360
- The Oak -
''You're smarter
than the devil, doctor.''

362
00:25:18,490 --> 00:25:20,240
That's how it goes in communism.

363
00:25:20,330 --> 00:25:22,790
If you are a Securitate official,
you can do everything you want.

364
00:25:22,890 --> 00:25:25,520
If you are an ordinary citizen,
to hell with you.

365
00:25:25,610 --> 00:25:28,600
Only God could deliver you
from their hands.

366
00:25:33,570 --> 00:25:36,280
- The Oak -
''You are listening
to Radio Free Europe.''

367
00:25:36,970 --> 00:25:39,240
''We have such a beautiful country.''

368
00:25:42,370 --> 00:25:48,160
In 1968, on August 20th,
21st and 22nd,

369
00:25:48,250 --> 00:25:51,240
the Russian invasion
of Czechoslovakia took place.

370
00:25:51,370 --> 00:25:56,390
I realized that a future for
my children was no longer possible.

371
00:25:57,090 --> 00:25:58,760
I decided to leave the country.

372
00:25:58,850 --> 00:26:03,120
I left with my two children,
who were diving champions

373
00:26:03,170 --> 00:26:04,680
for Turkey,

374
00:26:04,770 --> 00:26:11,960
where they were training
for the 1969 Balkan Championship.

375
00:26:13,330 --> 00:26:16,240
They finally let me go,
but only with the two children.

376
00:26:16,610 --> 00:26:18,240
They tried to stop me
from leaving the boat,

377
00:26:18,290 --> 00:26:24,800
We were ready to jump overboard.
But I tricked them.

378
00:26:25,210 --> 00:26:28,080
This is how we managed
to get to America.

379
00:26:30,490 --> 00:26:34,110
I began to pressure the authorities
to let the rest of my family come to me.

380
00:26:34,170 --> 00:26:38,280
My chance came when Ceauşescu
went to America.

381
00:26:38,690 --> 00:26:42,470
President Nixon had a letter
from my children on his desk.

382
00:26:42,610 --> 00:26:45,680
And he asked Ceauşescu
to let my family be reunited.

383
00:26:45,810 --> 00:26:48,800
After two years and 3 weeks
they finally came to America.

384
00:26:59,210 --> 00:27:02,990
First, I went to Canada to my uncle,
who was a doctor.

385
00:27:03,130 --> 00:27:06,960
Poor man, he had to buy a house,
because of all the children.

386
00:27:07,410 --> 00:27:09,200
I begin to study medicine
day and night

387
00:27:09,290 --> 00:27:13,480
and in the evenings I went
to box at the YMCA.

388
00:27:14,130 --> 00:27:17,000
I have video recordings
to prove it.

389
00:27:23,890 --> 00:27:32,000
Many times I walked on the ice up
to the river Olt and tried to swim there.

390
00:27:32,530 --> 00:27:37,470
When spring came and the ice began to melt,
I walked among the ice floes.

391
00:27:37,530 --> 00:27:40,680
A real pleasure.

392
00:27:41,050 --> 00:27:44,720
People think I'm joking, but I'm not.
It was a real pleasure.

393
00:27:44,770 --> 00:27:50,240
I was never cold.
I don't know what kind of creature I am.

394
00:27:50,330 --> 00:27:52,630
I still swim at low temperatures.

395
00:27:52,770 --> 00:28:00,120
I remember in Canada, Calgary, Alberta,
at minus 40 degrees Celsius

396
00:28:00,210 --> 00:28:05,840
when you could hardly breathe I was
swimming in Elbow River. I was fine.

397
00:28:07,090 --> 00:28:15,400
Two of my children became
diving champions there as well.

398
00:28:15,850 --> 00:28:18,720
I was studying day and night
and in the evenings

399
00:28:18,810 --> 00:28:23,320
I was listening to the radio to learn English,
which I couldn't speak at all.

400
00:28:23,450 --> 00:28:25,400
I took and passed the examination.

401
00:28:25,530 --> 00:28:27,910
It's called Educational Commission
for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

402
00:28:28,050 --> 00:28:31,720
I worked very hard,
but I passed the examination.

403
00:28:31,850 --> 00:28:40,750
At first in America I had a job
as a resident in a private hospital.

404
00:28:40,930 --> 00:28:50,080
Meanwhile I went to see
Dr. James Pierce Junior,

405
00:28:50,490 --> 00:28:55,720
an important urologist
at Wayne State University.

406
00:28:55,810 --> 00:28:59,280
I told him of unconscionable mistakes
I had seen at the hospital.

407
00:28:59,370 --> 00:29:04,880
By those coming from Asia or Africa
who knew nothing about surgery,

408
00:29:04,930 --> 00:29:07,280
and that I couldn't work
like them.

409
00:29:08,690 --> 00:29:11,560
He told me that that was not the kind
of medicine they were practicing there.

410
00:29:11,650 --> 00:29:18,400
He asked me to come and work with him.
I told him that I knew nothing about transplant.

411
00:29:18,450 --> 00:29:20,400
I had never seen it in my life.

412
00:29:20,730 --> 00:29:25,520
He told me not to worry.
He was very satisfied.

413
00:29:25,690 --> 00:29:28,640
He wanted me to stay and work with him,
but I had my children to take care of,

414
00:29:28,730 --> 00:29:32,400
who had already made me spend over
half a million dollars on their education.

415
00:29:32,450 --> 00:29:35,960
So I had to go.
I went into private practice.

416
00:29:36,090 --> 00:29:39,790
I asked him not to be mad at me,
but that was my situation.

417
00:29:39,850 --> 00:29:44,120
I would be happy to remain here,
but what would I do with them ?

418
00:29:48,850 --> 00:29:51,310
- The Oak -
''- Mitica, I want to tell you something.
- Tell me.''

419
00:29:51,690 --> 00:29:53,990
''I want to have your baby.''

420
00:29:54,090 --> 00:29:55,230
Let me present them one by one.

421
00:29:55,330 --> 00:30:01,510
The oldest is Rodica, violinist and
computer engineer with a master's degree.

422
00:30:01,650 --> 00:30:04,640
She lives in San Jose
and she has two beautiful boys.

423
00:30:04,730 --> 00:30:07,360
- The Oak -
''I wonder what kind of child
could we have together.''

424
00:30:07,490 --> 00:30:10,000
''He could either
a genius or an idiot.''

425
00:30:10,090 --> 00:30:12,520
''You're right.
If he's an idiot I'll kill him myself.''

426
00:30:12,650 --> 00:30:14,720
This is Dacia,
she's more peppery.

427
00:30:14,810 --> 00:30:18,000
She used to be a diving champion
not only in Canada and America,

428
00:30:18,090 --> 00:30:20,280
but in Romania as well.

429
00:30:20,330 --> 00:30:22,560
She's a gynecologist.
She has three children.

430
00:30:22,610 --> 00:30:27,520
My son Traian graduated
from two medical schools.

431
00:30:27,570 --> 00:30:34,040
He won the Golden Gloves
and a kick boxing title.

432
00:30:35,250 --> 00:30:38,760
Sabina is an
English and Spanish teacher.

433
00:30:38,890 --> 00:30:43,680
Traian has a boy too.
Sabina has a boy named Gabriel.

434
00:30:44,210 --> 00:30:47,910
And the last one is Ines.

435
00:30:47,970 --> 00:30:51,280
She's very smart and she could
have achieved more,

436
00:30:51,410 --> 00:30:55,030
but she chose to go
into management.

437
00:30:55,130 --> 00:30:59,120
She has a daughter that got married early
and who has two children.

438
00:30:59,170 --> 00:31:00,720
So I have two great-grandchildren.

439
00:31:00,850 --> 00:31:04,680
So if I count them all they are five
grandsons and three granddaughters.

440
00:31:04,810 --> 00:31:10,240
And two great-grandchildren.
So I've done my duty in this regard as well.

441
00:31:12,890 --> 00:31:14,960
During communism

442
00:31:15,250 --> 00:31:19,960
makin babies was the only thing
I did without needing permission.

443
00:31:36,130 --> 00:31:40,990
The important thing in this life
is to have the satisfaction.

444
00:31:41,090 --> 00:31:44,760
That you have done your duty
as a human being.

445
00:31:44,810 --> 00:31:48,880
As far as dreams of riches go,
I had an enormous contempt towards them.

446
00:31:49,010 --> 00:31:51,280
That's why I've never accepted
any money from anyone.

447
00:31:51,410 --> 00:31:54,400
I haven't accepted
any titles from anyone.

448
00:31:54,490 --> 00:31:57,400
No academic or professor titles,

449
00:31:57,450 --> 00:32:01,400
even though I have
all the necessary qualification.

450
00:32:01,530 --> 00:32:03,440
I was never interested in them.

451
00:32:03,530 --> 00:32:06,090
If I were to live my life
all over again,

452
00:32:06,170 --> 00:32:11,360
like I did at 11 years old, when I came
to this hospital to help the wounded,

453
00:32:11,490 --> 00:32:15,480
I would do the same. I would go on
with my life from the same point.

454
00:32:22,170 --> 00:32:23,880
Myself and Baieşu Guţă.

455
00:32:24,010 --> 00:32:31,000
We were both young.
Around 30 years old.

456
00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:38,200
Guţă was a short guy.
He used to smoke and suffered from arthritis

457
00:32:38,330 --> 00:32:42,320
and all kinds of infections,
he was very thin.

458
00:32:42,890 --> 00:32:51,550
One day I met Guţă with his funny
baby face and we talked.

459
00:32:52,490 --> 00:32:55,240
I brought him to this hospital
in Râmnicu Vâlcea

460
00:32:55,330 --> 00:32:57,960
and made a new person
out of him.

461
00:32:58,090 --> 00:33:03,520
One day at the hospital,
the hospital manager Nae Fâcă,

462
00:33:03,610 --> 00:33:06,600
a decent man, radiologist,
large as a mountain,

463
00:33:06,730 --> 00:33:09,720
told me
''how did you manage to do all this ?''

464
00:33:09,810 --> 00:33:13,320
And he showed me the newspaper.

465
00:33:14,370 --> 00:33:17,040
The title of the story was
''THIRTY EIGHT POINT TWO''

466
00:33:17,090 --> 00:33:20,480
with a big dedication written to
Doctor Grigore Schileru.

467
00:33:20,650 --> 00:33:23,030
I read it and I was amazed.

468
00:33:28,050 --> 00:33:31,400
That's how the story began.

469
00:33:32,090 --> 00:33:34,840
Footage from the following
feature films was used:

470
00:33:34,890 --> 00:33:37,720
''The Oak''
screenplay by Lucian Pintilie

471
00:33:37,770 --> 00:33:40,720
directed by Lucian Pintilie
after Ion Băieşu's novel.

472
00:33:40,770 --> 00:33:43,760
''Red Apples''
directed by Alexandru Tatos

473
00:33:43,810 --> 00:33:45,880
screenplay by Ion Băieşu.

474
00:33:45,930 --> 00:33:48,310
We thank for their support
in making this film to:

475
00:33:48,370 --> 00:33:51,360
Lucian Pintilie, Constantin Popescu
Mircea Muresan, Ioan Barbu

476
00:33:57,730 --> 00:34:01,000
Sixty years after the end
of the second world war,

477
00:34:01,050 --> 00:34:04,240
the United States President
George W. Bush

478
00:34:04,290 --> 00:34:07,520
recognized that the agreement
at the Yalta Accord in February 1945,

479
00:34:07,570 --> 00:34:11,160
ceding Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union,
was one of the greatest mistakes of history.

480
00:34:11,850 --> 00:34:16,360
Maria, Gheorghita and Grigore
said he was right.

481
00:34:16,570 --> 00:34:22,400
Even though nobody asked
their opinion.

482
00:34:23,330 --> 00:34:29,320
Translated by
JULIAN & LAURA SEMILIAN