Ileana Popovici

Critic’s Opinion
“Ileana Popovici was first «seen» by Lucian Pintilie (Reconstituirea) in the role of a contemporary girl, slightly aboulic, absent and concealing her inner void in the jarring heat of the portable radio. Radu Gabrea has «seen» her as well, but in a different manner: as an angelic entity in universe of suffering and sorrow— the universe of the war.
When you speak of Ileana Popovici – you hesitate to call her an actress because you realize that she isn’t putting on an act, she is in fact the character of whom the directors had thought of. She doesn’t have the usual tics of the profession which serve as proof to the craft, although she does manage to convey its tools; in the end, she exhibits sensitivity and she feels the character by means of an intuition and skill which are really the fruits of talent.
We, too, have seen her - but in a different way than the directors, as simple viewers - one evening when she was introducing Gabrea’s film: she was shy, she had a discreet smile and she accepted the applauses in an equally discreet manner, one might say she was almost at a loss for words. The movement of her arms was inevitably at the height of a star. It was as tough she was on the verge of grabbing a piece of chalk and a sponge preparing to be summoned at the blackboard.” (Cinema no. 2, Feburary 1970)