Carbon

On paper one of the darkest comedies of the decade, this daringly humorous interpretation of conflict and its consequences takes the 1992 Transnistrian War as its starting point. The film follows a middle-aged truck driver named Dima (played by stand-up comedian Dumitru Roman) who enlists in the army in order to get a centrally located city flat. On the way to the front, Dima and his friend Vasya (played by Ion Vantu) come across a charred corpse by the side of the road; a discovery that leads them to some strange encounters and adventures. This ironic road movie, which was a successful box office hit in its home country, seems today like a hidden pre-echo of later wars: specific and timeless at the same time, like all good fables.