Munteanu, Francisc

Born Apr. 9, 1924, in Veţel, Hunedoara. Rumanian author, scriptwriter, and film director.

Munteanu’s first important work was the novella Lenţa (1954). In his novellas and novels—such as In the City Over the Mures, (1954), Statues Never Laugh (1957), Hotel Tristeţe (1957), The Sky Starts at the Third Floor (1958), and Land of Siena (1962)—the protagonists are underground Communists and anti-Fascist intellectuals, representatives of the generation that paved the way for the victory of socialism in Rumania. Munteanu first worked in films in the early 1960’s. With Soviet filmmakers, he wrote the scripts for the films Tunnel (1967) and Songs of the Sea (1971). In the novel Where To? (1970) he raises questions concerning morality and the life young people choose. Many of Munteanu’s works have been translated into Russian.