Kapitalism - Our Improved Formula

If the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu were to return to his native Romania 20 years after his execution, he would be a happy man. The country is in the hands of his former close associates and it is rife with corruption and protectionism, just like it was under communism. With his own brand of hyperbole, director Alexandru Solomon's film takes a look at Romanian capitalism, which has been led since the beginning of the 1990s by a group of prominent individuals with links to old regime's security forces. It not only offers viewers an exclusive glimpse of the luxury homes, yachts and factories of Romanian magnates, but also reveals their thoughts. "You won't be successful unless you steal," is how Dinu Patriciu describes his recipe for entrepreneurial success. This billionaire has been accused of money laundering in a case that will most probably not be investigated, like all other financial scandals. This documentary artfully blends profiles of Romanian oligarchs and footage of huge factories alternated with images of communist assembly-line production and humorous animated inserts. All of this is embellished with the director's own ironic commentary.