The Western game called "Monopoly" became popular in Romania during the 80s. It developed the skills of the future capitalists. It was rapidly assimilated due to its competitive character. A socialist monopoly called "Bunul gospodar" ("The Thrifty Manager") was made up as a reaction against it. The design was the same, but the sums were small and in lei. They were used to buy in installments or to rent an apartment and then to furnish it with standardized furniture. (90)

MOVIE

I remember the Indian movies, ?The Gypsies?, ?The Vagrant?. Around ?85 there was ?Pacala?, and there was the film with Florin Piersic featuring as Margelatu. (A. V., 173)

I keep a vivid memory of Mircea Danieluc?s film, ?Iacob?, made after 1985. The script is an adaptation of several stories by Geo Bogza, but with a big difference. It was only very late that I realized no church appeared on screen, it was a very grim film. A parable of captivity. A pitman remains stuck in a cable car on a holy day and finally dies there. (A. V.,7)

I watched ?Iacob? three times. A phrase from the film stayed with me: ?it?s all right again?. The first time, I was with Adriana, we were skipping Institute classes. When the light was on at the end, we felt like congratulating ourselves. (111)

Another good film was ?Glissando?, Danieluc?s again. A fantastic, surrealist film, full of political symbols. It had some extraordinary frames. A guy passing through a set of glasses, madmen in a hospital, bathing in a tub? (A. V., 7)

I remember the cold, somber winters, when I used to sneak out of the Institute for Folklore and go to the movies. The nearest to where I lived was the Tanase Theater, which had little audience and looked awful. The building first belonged to the German Embassy, then became the Comedy Theater and now shelters a casino. They had a hall on the ground floor where they placed three screens and they showed American movies, or Hong Kong movies, martial arts movies generally. There was also the Stuntmen?s Association in the Amzei Market, where they had a movie room with more screens and Bruce Lee movies. There were also several cinemas on the March 6^th Boulevard. It was freezing cold inside and we stayed there muffled up. (A. V., 7)