“The bowed head avoids the sword. But it never sees the sun.”
A middle-aged woman decides to overthrow the powerful oligarch who controls her tiny Eastern European country of Moldova. Armed with only her wit and some stolen government stamps, she must outsmart the oligarch’s henchmen, evade the secret police, and trick her countrymen into sparking a revolution. Facing off against armed riot police, water cannons, and deep fakes, she risks everything to stop the oligarch from oppressing her people. Along the way she’ll need to face her past and uncover the secret weakness that can stop an oligarch.
With Ştampila, David Arnaud Larson offers a political but entertaining film that shows that when the people rise up, real change can happen in society.
The Moldovan situation
Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. It has been controlled for years by a powerful oligarch known as the “Puppet Master.” In 2014, the Puppet Master and his associates looted over a billion dollars from Moldova’s treasury. This is the largest public theft in modern European history.
By 2018, the Puppet Master was at the height of his power. He controlled Moldova’s executive branch, the parliamentary majority and most of the country’s media. He even hired American political advisors to help him retain power.
It was at this point that David Arnaud Larson decided to make this film, with the hope that his film might help wake people up. It’s hard to believe how dangerous filmmaking can be. To make his movie, the director had to submit the screenplay to the government for approval. So he provided a false script, risking arrest if the truth were uncovered.
But the extraordinary thing here is that David Arnaud Larson not only succeeded in making his excellent film, but the film’s fictional subject-matter eventually became a reality when a movement against corruption in Moldavia started.
Intelligent and entertaining
What sets Stampila apart is the way it blends the historical with the entertaining, the heavy with the light. Few filmmakers manage to capture political stories set in Eastern Europe without quickly descending into the war between Russians and Americans. Although this aspect is present in the film, it remains in the background. What’s important is to denounce the corruption and to shout loud and clear the love – the director – he has for Moldova. As they say in the film: “Moldova is a small country, not a stupid one.”
But beyond the story of this small country, there’s a stand against oligarchic powers.
“My film is a warning about oligarchy, but it also has a hopeful message in that it shows the weakness of oligarchs. If public opinion turns against them, they’re finished (that’s why they try to control the media – i.e. Bezos with the Washington Post and Musk with Twitter).”
David Arnaud Larson
It would be easy for people in the West to think that this sort of thing only happens in Eastern Europe. But we might remember that Italy has long been ruled by ultra-corrupt governments.
So, with a well-written story, talented actors and solid veracity, the director manages to interest viewers in his cause and in a country that many people wouldn’t be able to locate on a map.
A little more…
The film itself is well worth seeing. But when you know the story behind the film’s production, you realize even more the importance of such a work.
When the team decided to make a fictional film about the overthrow of the real oligarch, they were afraid of being caught and expelled (or worse). So they had a fake screenplay (a love story) and a plan to shoot an entire feature in 21 days, as fast as possible, before the oligarch found out what the film was really about. During the last week of shooting, the Ministry of Internal Security became suspicious, canceling filming and threatening all Moldovan actors.
When they say that sometimes reality surpasses fiction…
One last point is particularly worth mentioning. Ştampila also shows the work of those specialized image management and communications firms that follow politicians to help them get their messages across and, above all, to make the potentially negative disappear. With the addition of a bit of humor, the message comes across quite easily, and viewers will enjoy themselves while leaving the screening with a few questions in their minds.
