We recently discussed an illegal movement in communist Romania in the '80s dedicated to assembling Cobra computer clones. But there was another much wider and equally forbidden activity: the copying and reproduction of Western films on VHS. The 2015 documentary Chuck Norris vs Communism shares unprecedented details about the maneuvers distributors had to carry out to avoid the authorities, and “the voice” that dubbed each of those films.
Many of our younger readers may never have interacted with a VCR, but for years it was the only way we could access content beyond local TV and the classic trip to the movies. However, beyond its limitations, the process was simple: visit the nearest video store (which wasn't even a Blockbuster), pay the rental fee, and return it the next day. Sounds logical, right? Now imagine a place where a video store, or simply owning certain films, is illegal. The world is smaller these days, and any attempt at censorship has its cracks, but in Nicolae Ceaușescu's communist Romania, the people had only one option: Pirate.
Inside the Documentary
All the details about the impressive VHS piracy movement in 1980s Romania are concentrated in the excellent documentary Chuck Norris vs Communism, written and directed by Ilinca Călugăreanu. On one hand, we have the consumers, tired of official propaganda, gathering in the homes of neighbors who were lucky enough to buy a VCR at exorbitant prices to watch half a dozen movies per night in the best of cases. Then there is Irina Margareta Nistor, one of the official translators of Romanian television, who dubbed more than three thousand films banned by the regime. And finally we reach Teodor Zamfir, the man in charge of bringing the films into the country, copying them, and distributing them. His money must have greased many gears, and it reached the highest circles of the Securitate.
Chuck Norris vs Communism runs just over an hour, but I have to admit it's worth every second. For us, watching a VHS movie was a matter of walking a couple of blocks and renting it. Instead, the Romanian people moved televisions and VCRs in the middle of the night, 20 or 30 people gathered in a tiny living room, and enjoyed those small windows to the West that the authorities of the time wanted to cover up. Available on Netflix right now.
