The Conjugal Bed

Romania had it rough under its last communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and things are even rougher now Before their problems were oppression and poverty Now their problem is mostly poverty and plenty of it In this grim comedy to call it a black comedy would be to paint too perky a picture of it Vasile Gheorghe Dinicahas a wife whom hes fond of and a mistress whom hes fonder of He manages a nearly abandoned movie theater and makes just about nothing doing it When his wife announces shes pregnant he nearly goes frantic trying to find money to get her an abortion However what truly sends him over the edge is when his mistress decides to become a prostitute because after all the money is good These two situations send him straight to the loony bin and when he gets out he discovers that his wife has rented their apartment to pornographic filmmakers and guess whos starring in them