Chuck Norris vs. Communism Page #3

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For regular people, video nights were...

I dont know, the one thing

that helped us survive.

As teenagers, everything we knew

about pop culture and films

came from watching illegal videocassettes.

Youd stop following the film

because you were so impressed

by the houses,

by the shops packed

with food and sweets, wow!

Just the fact that you could see a car

that youd never see here.

There was no way youd see

a Lamborghini on the street.

For women,

it was an inspiration for fashion.

Theyd see the latest fashions

from elsewhere.

We didnt have any TV shows about fashion.

Not knowing what it was like there,

we were hungry for films

that took place in New York

or in Acapulco, like the Elvis films,

or in Paris.

We craved them and marveled

at the landscape and streets,

rather than the action, many times.

I was astonished, Look at the apartments

Americans have, incredible!

Look how big their cars are,

the streets!

It was a window into the West from which

I could see what the free world was like.

Police! What are you doing here?

One Thursday night, eight policemen came.

They started to scream and yell.

No one leaves!

Were arresting you! Well...

Cmon, sit down!

Whats this, Comrade?

I was watching a film with some friends.

A film? Is this a video screening?

Did you take some money tonight?

-No, but whats the problem?

-Whats the problem?

Hey, take the VCR.

Were taking the VCR, Comrade Barbu.

I said, Okay, but do you have

a search warrant?

And they were like, Listen to this guy.

He wants a search warrant.

Okay, well get it. In half an hour,

well be back with a search warrant.

And then well rip your home apart.

They could press criminal charges and

sentence you to one or two years in jail.

In my case,

they took the VCR and 30 tapes.

People who had VCRs and color TVs

suffered a lot of injustice.

One evening, he simply showed up there.

I didnt know who he was

or where he came from.

All I knew was that he was very polite.

-And you are?

-Mircea.

I was recommended.

Are you usually late?

No, Im really sorry,

it wont happen again.

Are they ready?

Yes.

Here they are.

Hes our new translator.

-Good evening.

-Comrade Nistor, its an honor.

You will have different schedules

so you wont meet often.

This is the dubbing table.

Ill leave the tapes there.

The lists are there. Yes?

I understand.

Good, follow me.

He was a character

that I completely ignored.

He didnt interest me.

He was the competition, to begin with.

Strangely, I dont interact with people.

I dont feel the need.

You need to understand that I was there...

to be Mrs. Irinas backup.

Quite a hard task!

There were very few tapes

dubbed by someone else.

So wed say, Wait a minute.

This is not an original.

Yes.

This is a fake. Bring me the original!

There were other voices. There was a guy.

I am Michael Knight.

David told me to come here.

My wife, Terry.

I dont remember the other person.

I didnt like it.

I couldnt enjoy the film itself.

Seriously,

it felt like something was missing.

-I only remember Irina Nistor.

-There was someone else!

Should I tell you something? What?

Id miss Irina.

Wed reject a different voice,

I dont want this guy.

Weve been conned.

Irinas voice was the original.

First there was a true collapse

of civilization.

And then genocide.

Wed watch four films a night.

Around 5:
00 AM, wed all be confused.

You wouldnt remember on Monday

what you saw exactly.

Wait a second.

Was this in Rambo 2 or Rambo 4?

When did he sew his wound?

And the explosion...

Wait, he wasnt in Vietnam anymore.

Nobody knew anymore.

The girl the husband wants to kill...

-She had a twin sister and...

-Shes thrown to the crocodiles...

-And she comes back disfigured.

-My mom and her friend were crying.

The copies were so bad, that many times

we had to imagine what was on screen.

Copied over and over

but not from a master.

The quality deteriorated exponentially.

Youd think the VCR was broken,

but it was the faulty tapes.

Speak, speak!

Whats your name?

Within 24 hours,

the films had entered Romania,

were translated, multiplied

and then sold throughout the country.

Then smaller local dealers

would take over,

and copy them again and again.

Theyd reach us with very poor quality

of image and sound.

Were making a very small modification.

The price will now be double.

-Why?

-Its double.

New films, better quality...

Look at the tapes.

Look at them.

Slowly it grew bigger,

but that would be an understatement.

Lieutenants from all the big cities

came to get tapes.

I knew that every other Monday

Id come to my distributors in Bucharest.

Then Id distribute the tapes

to friends and acquaintances

in Bistrita, Oradea, Satu Mare.

Evening, Mr. Zamfir.

-All good?

-Yes.

And for me it was a great business.

The average monthly income was 2,000,

and I made 500 a night.

-See you next week.

-Yes, good-bye.

So the network spread from A to Z,

everybody making a bit of money.

Risky money,

because no laws sanctioned it.

Mr. Zamfir started out

with two, three or five VCRs.

By the end, he had 360 VCRs.

Each tape cost 1,000 LEI back then.

And every three hours,

hed make 300 tapes, 300,000 LEI.

The value of a house!

Nobody could have done this

except for Mr. Zamfir.

Nobody!

Sit down! But...

Sit down!

Zamfirs house

was an exclusively male space.

And the people who came there

to buy tapes and talk about

God knows what, were all men.

I didnt talk to them.

I didnt want to know their names.

For years, I had no idea

what Zamfirs first name was,

nor Mirceas surname.

I did my own thing.

I went there, I dubbed, I left.

-Hi, you have the tape?

-Yes.

Thanks, bye!

I got the film.

What film?

Missing in Action with Chuck Norris.

These Americans were being

held hostage by the Vietnamese.

I saw the film.

Hes captured by the...

Gooks.

-I think thats what Irina said.

-Yeah, the Gooks.

Bloody Gook!

And to torture him, they put a sack

over his head with a rat in it.

To Chuck Norris. Big mistake!

They expected hed be eaten by the rat.

They took it off.

-Hed eaten it.

-Norris had the rat in his mouth.

He didnt really eat it, he bit it.

The rats dead and he spits it out.

Chuck Norris spits out the rat.

And it was that whole thing

of ultimate survival.

After the film ended...

Lets see what youve got.

Come on then, Ill destroy you.

The street wasnt just a street,

a rock not just a rock.

They were challenges.

Come on.

Bring it on.

We started to play

in a disciplined manner.

We started to want to be...

heroes.

In my flat, I screened the film...

Nero.

I couldnt help myself

and I made a few comments.

And even my aunt,

who was 70 years old, said,

Look, hes just like Ceausescu.

He set Rome on fire.

The same way Ceausescu

destroyed churches and villages,

Nero set Rome on fire.

I was at my aunts one early evening...

and I was watching

a karate film on my own.

A family of neighbors,

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