The beloved stage, film and television actress Draga Olteanu-Matei passed away. Well-known for the part she played in the Coana Chirița series, that she played on stage, she wrote two screenplays starting from this protagonist, which ended up
Astă seară dansăm în familie (directed by Geo Saizescu, 1971), Ilustrate cu flori de câmp (directed by Andrei Blaier, 1974), Nea Mărin miliardar (directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1978), Un om în loden (directed by Nicolae Mărgineanu, 1978), Buletin de Bucureşti (directed by Virgil Calotescu, 1982) are films that cannot be imagined without her presence. Her name is a name that just doesn’t melt under the generic history of the Romanian cinema; instead it stands out as a tour de force.
“A force of the comic nature, capable of making mountains and men knock their heads together, howling with a laughter that can make you cry. The entire repertoire of a simple person, all the jobs, all the expressions fit her perfectly. A confusing willingness which seems to have paralyzed the comedy writers who are supposed to make us laugh. The victory of the melodrama in Patima accuses them.” (Radu Cosaşu, Magazin estival 1977).