Gabriel and Gabriela, both in their 40s, parents of a grown-up son, are cought in a routine marriage... One day though, they discover the pleasure of using tge computeer and, soon, both of them will be caught in a torrid, yet virtual love affair...
It's been 15 years since Alex Maftei acclaimed short film, În fiecare zi e noapte, followed, 4 years later, by his first feature Fii cu ochii pe fericire. This is something that, I’m ashamed to admit, I found out only a few days ago... Of course, one could argue that in the second half of 90s when the aforementioned premieres were held. Romania was far from beeing attention worthy in terms of cinema. Anyway, the reason for which I am so readily accepting my ignorance is the following / as far as the New Romanian wave is concerned, Hello, How You Are? is a sort of debut, a resolute step towards a much desired commercial cinema, a step that could help people relax about one of biggest fears concerning this subject – yes, one CAN make commercial films without turning them into a full blown vulgar-o-rama. In other words, yes - Hello, How You Are? is a delicate and charming romantic comedy that heavily relies on the chemistry of its main characters (Dana Voicu and Ionel Mihăilescu might be unexpected romantic leads, but they manage to convey all the sappiness – and I mean it in the best of ways! – that this genre should permeate) on a well-defined supporting cast whose sole purpose, besides offering brief but essential moments og comic relief, is to mirror the trials and tribulations of the protagonists and, of course, on fine bittersweet dialogue.And, talking about dialogue, here's the twist... Hello, How You Are? is one of those rare examples of the film being even better than the script - in the written version, the romantic plot point was focused on virtual chat rooms (in the internet era, even people who grew up with Bee Gees and ABBA learn to reconnect via broadband) making the future filmed version feel artificial and repetitive. Well, with a bit of imagination, Alexandru Maftei managed to avoid that, turning the film, both visually and story-wise, and without giving up the gimmick, into a breath of fresh air. Wise.
