My Giant
Year: 1998
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Degree of relevance: High
Billy Crystal plays the role of a movie agent who travels to Romania in order to collaborate with a client, but the latter turns him down for another agent. He keeps traveling in the countryside and ends up with the car in a pond, where he is saved by a local NBA star, Gheorghe Muresan. He wakes up in a monastery and the star, who is 2 meters tall, takes care of him. Then the agent comes with the idea of making him a star and getting him to America.
The movie reiterates the stereotype of the backward East. Right from the beginning, the landscape in the background shows a rural area, concerned mainly with agriculture and raising animals. Moreover, agent Sam tries in vain to find someone who speaks English. However, the landscape is an idyllic one and the countryside seems peaceful. After the accident, he is taken to the monastery by the NBA player, instead of a hospital, which underlines once again the backwardness of the area. There is also another side of the story, when Sam takes Ghita to America and he is not able to adapt to the modern universe.
In my opinion, there is a clear distinction the movie makes, juxtaposing the modern, urban, civilized world to the rural, basic, simple countryside life in Romania. Even so, the giant is shown as having a good heart, and this may account for the proverbial Romanian hospitality. All in all, it may have had some positive aspects at the time by teaching Americans more about our country and showing its various aspects.
