Ziarul: New York Times Autor: Vincent Canby Data: 1988-10-03

"Jacob," Mircea Daneliucţs new Romanian film, is about a gold miner whose life is very difficult, in the mines and out.

Jacob is married to the widow of a miner who, despondent, blew himself up at home one night, nearly taking his wife and children with him. That incident haunts Jacob, as well as the suspicion that his wife, who is somewhat younger than he is, might be unfaithful.
Jacobţs best friend has a plan to steal a large hunk of gold from the mine. Jacob is tempted, but at the last minute he refuses to cooperate. The would-be theft is discovered. Though Jacob and his friend are never found guilty of anything, they are reassigned to other jobs, Jacob to a coal mine that is a three-hour walk from his village.
"Jacob" will be shown at the New York Film Festival at 9:15 today and at 6:15 P.M. tomorrow. The film begins with a suicide and manages to become even more bleak as it goes along.The festivalţs program notes compare "Jacob" to "Wozzeckţ and to ."Fassbinderţs brooding strongmen."

This is ridiculous. Georg Buchnerţs play "Wozzeck," made into a splendid film by Werner Herzog in 1979, is about a heroic figure, a certifiable nut who is driven to destruction by society as well as by the demons within him. Neither is Jacob comparable to the only so-called strongman in all of Rainer Werner Fassbinderţs work, that is, Franz Biberkopf, the innocent Everyman in Fassbinderţs screen adaptation of Alfred Doblinţs "Berlin Alex-anderplatz." :
Jacob, well played by Dorel Visan, is not a heroic figure, if only because the film that surrounds him is so un-characterized and murky.

He has moments when he comes to life, as when he slaps his wife around and then asks her why she is crying. "We should be happy," he says. "After all, it is Christmas." Mostly he just seems depressed for good reason. He is beaten by the system from start to finish.The filmţs English subtitles donţt help. They mix contemporary 12-let-ter obscenities with words otherwise only heard in Scotland ("bairns" for "kids" or "children") and are so inadequate that even basic plot points are fuzzy.

The Miseries Of a Gold Miner JACOB, directed by Mircea Daneliuc; screenplay (Rumanian with English subtitles) by Mr. Daneliuc from the works by Geo Bogza; director of photography, Florin Mihailescu; film editor, Maria Neag; art director, Magdalena Marasescu. At Alice Tully Hall, as part of the 26th Nev* York Film Festival. Running time: 117 minutes. This film has no rating.

WITH: Dorel Visan, Cecilia Birbora, Ion Fiscuteanu, Maria Seles, Livia Baba and Dinu Apetrei.