Betty the Actress Filming in Romania

I posted this for my cousin, Betty, from her recent trip to Romania where she participated in the making of a movie. dtb

The Danube River in Banat, Romania - view from Svata Helena

I just returned from ten days in the Banat Mountains in SW Romania. This is a region east of Timisoara and north of Danube River.. so remote has no public bus service. Many tiny villages scattered all over. The 6 remaining Czech villages were settled in the early 1800's as a buffer against return of the Turks. Many families migrated from Domazlize, Plzen, Tabor. In return for becoming citizens' border militia, they were promised exemption from military conscription (6-7 years at that time), escape from exorbitant taxes, good farm land. Only problem was no roads and good farm land thickly covered with trees and rocks.

My cell phone memory wouldn't hold all my ramblings about the trip, so my friend, Adam, agreed to save them in his computer for me. Hence, the style and format.

Cast of Characters:
Adam, my piano teacher/friend, his godfather is Krystina's father
Adam's wife Miluška
Their newborn, Valerie (Vah' lair ih eh)

Pavel Liška, popular film/stage star, filming in Banat, my English student. In film Pavel plays strange character who takes care of cemetery..digs graves, prepares bodies for burial, neighbor's geese make bad mess in cemetery..Pavel complains says he will buy big dog to keep geese away..instead plays recording of barking dog..but weird things start happening..neighbor's geese die..so do other geese..town drunk sees Pavel's big, black dog and gets bitten..then something happens to a child (During the film, they really dug a grave in a real, very old cemetery)

Pavel's wife, Krystina, dancer with National Theater, also filming, plays teacher who loves Pavel, but Pavel moves like glacier.

Simon (She' moan), Pavel and Krystina's year-old son
Some 16 or so members of Slovak film crew
BabaJaga, my 2 cats

Pavel Liska, Czech film star and Betty's student (learning English)

Dear Adam,
BabaJaga have food and water until evening. Quilt on chair for cat trip. Treats in fridge. Food and litter in lower cupboard on right. Please take all food on top shelf in fridge and meat from freezer. Eat it. 6AM we just entered Romania. Much better time than I expected. We had to wait for Pavel's performance to finish before starting..about 10:30PM.

We arrived in SVATA Helena around noon. From border on it was downhill all the way.. No signs..lost.. Backtrack..again and again..Narrow roads finally deteriorated into rock track up steep hill for 5km. Has tombstone shaped signs each km so you don't give up. Stopped often to free Simon from prison..first sight of DANUBE incredibly beautiful. Very hot in sun...very cool in shade. Adam, when you see the photos of my room here, you will never dare to complain again about taking 2 tiny, living flowers to live with you...this lady owns bunches of every paper or wax flower the local shop ever stocked. Very nice grandparents .. If I ask her to repeat, she shouts very loudly as though I were deaf. If she keeps this up, I will be. Man running pub-colonia (general store) is man for you, Adam. Native Romanian---NY cabbie 12 years! Drove for Bill Cosby daily. A couple of film crew also speak English. Treat me like we're all members of some special club.

Svata Helena, our home for the next week.

It is 5km from the Danube's Iron Gate stretch. Village much like early 1900's..1 general store/pub with tables and benches between wall and dusty street, 2 churches. Everybody hurries to window to check anything that moves or makes noise. Nothing escapes! Homes here have power, Sat. TV dishes, fridge, freezer, few computers but no internet. Home where I stayed is quite large, but even so, kitchen appliances were spread all over the house. Some chore to cook a meal! Outside work lags far behind. Crops cultivated by hand..often with crude, handmade tools..often see lines of people hoeing corn by hand.

On whole trip, I saw only one cultivator. Horses and wagons. Raise chickens, ducks, geese, hogs, milk cows, goats in barnyard out back. Vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Only a few indoor toilets in village of about 500...outhouses have been enclosed alongside house..clean, painted cheerful colors, even tiled..plus a one-holer seat. Main problem is lack of water. Cisterns catch rainwater. Village has water system with outlets in several places...also water stock there. Every morning, goats are driven up to higher pasture, then cows, then horses. Come down in same order every night, but it's school children who must go for them. At the end of a week, we will move to another village, Rovensko.. much higher up. People tell us to expect going back another century in time to early 1800's. All 6 villages speak Czech, school taught in Czech, use Czech money, old customs from days of first settlements prevail.

My mobile says I'm nearly out of memory. it has already thrown away my messages to you. Curses! Foiled again! I was making them also as my story of trip. Please save my SMSs, if you don't mind. I'll copy off when I return. So you will know whole message arrived, I'll always end with B. I can save 1 or 2 at a time, so let me know if whole message does not arrive, please. thanks for being my amanuensis.

I keep waking up in night because I don't hear trams. Some terrorist bomb destroyed? Here,I'm at top end of village. Hear only roosters, birds, and old dog that does not bark. Sounds like person saying 'Huff huff' every time anything moves..never sleeps. Out my window is trail to upper pastures. Goats with tiny bells pass by, then cows and 2 old men chatting..later horses go up. Maybe life is not always so hard. People all smile, say hello. Good face for tourists? But faces have mostly laugh lines. Old lady 80 stuck head in car laughing no teeth told me she was girl only 18.

Landlady and I had conversation about life as retired people. She gets 4,000 monthly (100,000 = $30). Wants to know if I get money for retirement. I suddenly feel like she sees rich American tourist and remember we have not settled on cost of room and food. I think I'll be stuck with double pricing again ...sigh.

Krystina, a perfect Degas vision. Sitting on chair, long legs bare, 1 foot in big white enamel water basin, other foot across knee. Doing? Shaving legs frantically! But we are in the country...Why?! Her dress for shoot today is too short..Hairy legs will show on film!

Lady brings for breakfast 2 sausages, 1 fried egg, 2 tomatoes, 2 hunks cheese, butter, honey, huge terrific bread, milk, juice. Eat half. Go walk to site. Return. Brings cookies, milk, later cheese. I say she will kill me. She turns, pats her very fat behind says I need to be like her. This is no place for healthy life!

PAVEL and K. Filmed small scene all AM. Hiked up above village, found trash dump, soccer field, gorgeous view of Danube far below, and 2 very friendly horses. Maybe P. can get acquainted with them before he has to learn to ride for his next film in Estonia. Must go.. dinner ready but, forever hopeful. asked for only milk and 1 piece bread.

Film goes like always..hurry up..wait..for what? Man looking up in sky with light meter in eye.."In 3 minutes"..checks..5"..ready..Clap scene board..action! ..Simon wakes up screaming from back of cemetery..mike picks up..STOP!..K. Runs off set to Simon..back..clouds. light. Man 4".. Bring big flat white light reflector..put here..no there..over left.. Higher.. L. Man 6"..simon must nurse.. To be an actor you must have patience of Job... My little black toy dog (my miraclous special neck pillow) wears big plastic purple bow..Makes a little hard to sleep but lady loves her work..Cows coming home past 2 hours. One followed me to door and wanted to come inside with me..Turns out she lives here, too.

Long night shoot. Rain, back to terrible rocky location not far from pub. Nice time in pub waiting for rain to stop. Finally began to earn my keep looking after Simon. It is really difficult for K. and P. with both in many scenes together and always listening for Simon's yelling. Crew think he's terrific and spend a lot of time with him. It's clear he will grow up in the midst of show business. He's already unflappable unless he's hungry. A Jeep took us home with S. in his pram. Slept right through being hoisted into back, horrible rocky roads, and 1 sudden shift of gears that started Jeep bucking and almost pitched K. out the back. Slammed pram forward and back so hard P. couldn't hold it. S. never made a sound.

Addendum: At 1st stop coming home 1 man in front got out. Waited long time. Another man came out, got in. Right away angry, yelling at driver, who was silent whole way. Driver now does all wrong. Stalls car with bad shift while turning around very narrow place in slick, muddy road. Other man screaming louder. Jumps out, pushes loaded Jeep backwards down hill, very dark, no moon. We are nervous when pushes faster and faster going back ...where? Ditch? Finally driver pops clutch. That's when K. and other girl nearly thrown out back. Now know why waited so long for extra man. Jeep must have 2 people for going.

Sitting on hard wooden stool tilted backwards for 5 hours rocking Simon's pram is not easiest thing I've ever done.... Good side: legs getting stronger. can hike uphill faster over rocks for 1..2..km. Now... love, B PS 1 crazy cuckoo cuckoo-ing all time. Does he never sleep? Hope he finds mate soon.

If you ever come here, you must stay with this lady. You'll eat like crazy; she'll absolutely adore you. excellent cook, but she pops in every few minutes to measure how much I've eaten. Plus she is always bringing things extra..sweet rolls..cookies..A banana that must be like gold here. No matter how much I explain, she still keeps thinking up things to cook to improve my appetite. I feel like their 3rd hog being fattened up for the kill. I'm even able to argue with her in pretty fast conversation now. It is still my old problem: If I know a person speaks only Czech, I have Czech also. But no other time. P. and K. have been surprised to hear me speaking Czech. They joke that in Prague I have only pretended I don't speak Czech. Here I have 4 people for English. One is the older Slovak actor they call 'the Slovak Paul Newman". I think I have seen him in film or TV. The rest all Czech. Many village people talk to me.

These film people are crazy! Every day after dinner they relax at pub. Fine, but today, for example, next shoot scheduled for 9pm, but right after PAVEL finished 3rd beer, they came for him at 3 for shooting new scene. Good luck, Miss Director! PAVEL has already been very nervous here. Says he feels very strange because there are 5 Slovak actors who are far better than any Czech actors and 3 of them are here in this film. Also says first day or two are always 'nervous' for him because "I don't know who I am yet." Interesting..everybody else thinks he's totally on top of everything.

Streets are standard for small hill town.. A few meters of concrete in pub block ...rest hard packed dirt full of rocks... White and sharp. Streets turn to heavy, slick mud in rain. Sidewalks are a different matter. Usual dirt paths, but also some long rolls of strange rubbery black composition stuff that has been laid on top of old path...rocks and all. Harder to walk on than road..can't always see bumps and dips. Re dog next door: If I were the town drunk trying to find my way home on a black moonless night, I'd have no trouble. His bark is like no other and he never stops. Cuckoo not so good for homing in.. He covers area about 4 blocks square..some of it on main trail to next village. Sayonara! Tomorrow is big day.. Film in next village an hour or two up the road. Big wedding there for real and director wrote it into script.. Should be an interesting day...no lady pushing food all day.. Failed to dodge packed lunch though.

I am better today. Peed every hour last night, so swelling has gone for now. Also gave my sack breakfast and lunch away to boys on crew. Nobody could believe so much food. Nothing stops her. I would like your help. She understands what I tell her, but she thinks I'm crazy. She is nice lady, so I would feel bad if I moved, but she is killing me with kindness. I need some theater! Please pretend you are my doctor. Make up name. I will send message for you to translate. OK, I hope?

Feel free to add anything to help or change so sounds more like CZ: Mrs. Ruzickova, my patient, B T, called me for advice. She is having some problems during her holiday in BANAT. She must stop eating prepared cooked food, no salt, eat only fruits and raw vegetables, but no tomatoes. Milk OK but not cream. May have 2 pieces of bread daily with honey but no butter. No eggs. Only 2 meals daily. This diet will take care of her problems, I'm sure. Thank you for your help. Dr, strangelove? Dr. Frankenstein?

Many small children at wedding today..all dressed as for 1st Communion..lace, ruffles, bows, satin.. Like tiny, brilliant butterflies flitting among common brown and grey moths. The two head men of village carried long canes wrapped in bright streamers and a stuffed toy bear?..Yep.. were last of procession just before bride and groom appeared. All men put hats on as they stepped out of door. 1st several men headed for pub. Most men wore hats that always remind me of LAUREL AND HARDY..hats standing squarely on head and narrow brims make hats look too small for heads. Big bash followed trek to town hall...stopped traffic for over an hour. Town band..a drum, trumpet, accordian..what else?..played special wedding music as all members of wedding party (many, many) came proudly and slowly down church walk and into street in some special order, with finally bride and groom coming out of church.

Great that you're all at home now. (Valerie born this week) And you went for a walk!? Hodny kluk. (Good boy!) How is she about your piano? How about answering my last email with all the questions? Could Dr. R's be an old number? Maybe in new building they've gotten around to installing new system. Went to town west of here and saw a bus. But I think it's for nothing. I stayed with car while others shopped, but they thought the town was so unsafe they kept moving the car closer as they went down the shopping area. They were afraid someone would attack me and try to steal car. Truth was nobody paid attention even with doors open for air. All going about own business..bankomat .. Shopping.. ..eating many ice cream cones. But it's true on a bus to TIMISOARA I would carry only money I could afford to pacify robbers with. So that's no solution. Can't wait to meet the Princess!

At wedding, K. was in crowd waiting outside church and procession. K. tried to talk to the little girls, but they told her they didn't know her so they couldn't talk to her. Young adults, I think even bride and groom asked K., "were you our teacher?" (K. is a beautiful, blonde 24--no way you could ever forget her...go figure)

What a wonderfully insane experience! 3AM Woke up to sound like cat jumping through my window. Not possible..window far too high. Someone trying to climb in my window and falling down..over and over..always falling. Window pretty high. Then I heard my name. Crazy drunken Liška trying to find his way home after farewell bash for 2 of the Slovak actors he so admires. Finally gave up being stunt man and played whole balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet (Liska has played Romeo monthly at National Theater for past 3 years)...The scene beginning: "Romeo, ah Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" (That was ME: in English)... "Hark! What light in yon window breaks...'tis Juliet! The sun!" (Pavel: in Czech)..... All in whispers. Pavel is going on and on...must be doing the whole Act!. Can't hear a word. Scene ends: "Good night, Sweet Prince, parting is such sweet sorrow (something something) 'til it be morrow." And, as if on cue, Liška faded away into the night. Too bad Juliet blew her lines every now and then, but Romeo covered nicely. What a wonderfully silly scene! But, hey! Anybody can play Juliet.........in the dark. What an unbelievable, wacky life this is here! I wouldn't have missed it for anything...

Woke up violently ill. Had to wake up Pavel to get phone number for young doctor with film crew. Now I know for sure that I have another friend with black, black humor. His SMS: "My cemetery is prepare. I have still free place."

Thank you. I am so stupid that I am ashamed to admit I have lived on a ranch. I'm afraid this is not some bad food or some virus. It may be bacteria. This place is small farm. In courtyard ... ensilage pit. Chickens walk on it and eat then poop in yard. Also horses. They have darling puppy..stays in yard. I forget he rolls in dirt and pet him a lot. Also very clean house but no good place to wash hands. Same basin of water 2 farm men use. So bacteria from pit have good path to me. And I KNOW better! So stupid of me. If turns into gastroenteritis I will hire Peter 'Horror' to drive me to Prague. Plane or train not possible now. Please talk to Ludek (Prague doctor). I'll send this to him also. Maybe Romeo's balcony scene did it.

THE BATH. The man at my place has a great love: soaking forever in a steaming bath. So he and his wife prepared a super-duper bath experience for me. Brought me robe. Called me to come. Both beaming. Enormous, deep bathtub filled with very hot water topped by at least a foot of bubble bath bubbles! I didn't have the heart to tell them how much trouble bubble bath bubbles cause my skin. Man sets boiling hot water to drip from pipe high overhead so bath water never cools down. For a lovely half-hour it truly was a fine experience...until I needed to get up on knees to wash my hair. The tub surface, naturally very slick, was made even more slippery by the bubble bath...and there was absolutely nothing to grab onto...no way to get any traction anywhere..and there were always the boiling drips to avoid. Controls complicated jury-rig and out of reach, anyway. It was like some silent movie comedy about some beached whale. With 2 titanium hips to coordinate, it is easier and safer to turn over on stomach and push up with hands to kneeling position, then go from there. But no matter what I tried, I couldn't get up, out, or over. All flailings put me right where I started...on my back! Tried letting water out..now covered from head to foot with bubble bath bubbles. Finally found 2 large bath sponges behind me.. put in bottom of tub for traction for hands..Escape! Never mind the soap all over me! Only took about 45" to make my getaway. Moral: Never take bath in strange village in Romania.

You aren't gonna believe this! "I'm gonna be in pictures! I'm gonna be a star!" All villagers too superstitious and turned down part. One man even agreed but then backed out when he saw the set. So I'm gonna be the dead body in the coffin. One of my Czech friends said Czechs believe that a person reported erroneously as dead will then have a very long life. That would be nice. "Ready when you are, Mr. DeMille!"

I will be buried in very nice costume....black suit..fancy white blouse..for fat, old lady...and obligatory scarf for head. I think coffin looks like for skinny person. I hope Pavel's black message followed by my film debut as dead body is not some prophecy.

Please notify my pathologist, Ludek, of this turn of events: I died today for the sake of the film. Village people were told about the part and seemed OK, but when they saw the coffin and burial costume, they finked out.

Ah, Stardom...such a fickle, fleeting thing. You prepare and prepare and then you wait and wait .....and wait some more. Finally, you're ON! Light check! Sound check! Ready! Camera! ACTION! You are dead..don't breathe..Lipstick Pavel is putting on me tickles...don't let your eyes move...Pavel strokes my hair then very gently strokes my dead hands. ....if I hold my breath much longer I will get red in the face..hurry up, lady!...director forgets to say STOP! Great time for that! And suddenly your Warhol 15 minutes of fame are over. You must get out of the coffin now. Director says, "Děkuji"(thank you); I reply from coffin, "Ne máte zač" (It's nothing of importance..like English 'think nothing of it') Everybody laughs..Not exactly sure why..NEXT SCENE!

After our one-minute scene, Pavel leaned over my coffin, looked tenderly, deeply into my eyes and murmured softly, "Our first film together." I cracked up. For a fellow who has almost no English, he certainly has picked up on what he needs for playing comedy and farce.

Pavel's comment that this is our first picture together gave me idea to be like Hitchcock. Did you know he did one walk-on in each film he directed? Fat man carrying double bass on his back is the most famous. Maybe I'll start a whole new career!! One walk-on in each of Pavel's films.

Man's voice outside my window, but don't pay attention..This house on main trail to upper meadows..people and animals passing constantly...voice gets more insistent..go to window. Man I've never seen before stands there holding up big bunch of bananas to me..I think he is selling and take them, but before I can ask how much, he jumps on his motor bike and speeds off. Well......OK.....I guess...

Finally, we are in Rovensko! It's only about 30km from Svata Helena with hiking taking only 6 or 7 hours. By car it's a good 5 hour drive. Go South, West, North a long way, East, and South again. Have to drive out of the mountains, go long way around them, down through a middle valley and then climb back up again. Great hiking country. You never have to worry about some driver running you down...no roads. Village runs along high ridgeline with spectacular views in all directions. Must be a killer in winter though. Wind blowing constantly. 14km. from nearest paved road. Snowed in in the winter. People extremely warm and friendly. Within 20 minutes of our arrival, two women came up the street carrying a huge bowl of wild (for real) boar stew, salad, huge round loaf of bread from outdoor oven, and huge fried donut holes. All fresh and steaming hot. Also lugging plates and silverware. Best food I've had on this trip. Old lady in traditional dress, apron, headscarf. Young lady more modern in pants and wine-colored satin blouse. Her little girl dressed as for church or wedding.

This has been a fantastic 10 days, but now we are all tired. Ready for shoot to finish. One actor says the first thing he will do is take flowers to his toilet and give it a big hug..never appreciated it so much before. We are all ready to sleep in our own beds. Photos and many rounds of goodbyes at village center. Already we are looking forward to the film premiers in Prague in the Fall...hopefully, most everybody will be there for it, so we are not saying 'Sbohem' (farewell forever), but 'Nashledanou' (goodbye until we meet again).