70
The title's no joke: the film presents Ceausescu as he presented himself to the world and wanted to be remembered.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
88
Washington Post by Ann Hornaday
A must-see for any student of history, political rhetoric and film poetics at their most vagrant and revelatory.
100
An epic indictment of media manipulation, this avant-doc delivers its coup de grâce once the camera finally demands accountability - leaving the disgraced despot staring into the lens, and the abyss of history staring back into him.
90
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
In many respects Ceausescu turns out to be as much the author of this brilliant documentary as the director, Andrei Ujica, who waded through more than 1,000 hours of filmed state propaganda, official news reports and home movies to create a cinematic tour de force that tracks the rise, reign and grim fall of its subject.
88
Slant Magazine by Michael Nordine
Manages to be intimate and impersonal at the same time, a trait constantly reinforced by his portrayal of not only Ceausescu but the populace he led, represented, and controlled for nearly three decades.
83
Most likely, The Autobiography Of Nicolae Ceausescu will mean the most to actual Romanians, who will recognize the locations and fashions, and may even know what the government's documentarians left out of the picture. But the movie offers plenty to captivate even outsiders.