Misterele Bucurestilor (1983)

After the weapons purchased with money obtained from the valuables belonging to Boyar Stroe Grădișteanu are brought into the country, the action of the film The Mysteries of Bucharest moves to the city of Bucharest. The film begins with Mărgelatu (Florin Piersic) and his men bringing the weapons into the city. The weapons are supposed to be hidden at Boar Mill, but Rabbit Lip (Szabolcs Cseh) informs Mărgelatu that the millers are working for the Agia. In the ensuing fight, Mărgelatu is wounded but manages to escape with the carts carrying the weapons, while Rabbit Lip is captured. Accused of treachery, Rabbit Lip is about to be killed by the beggars’ guild, of which he is a member, but is mysteriously saved by the witch Strigoaia. In Bucharest on the eve of the 1848 Revolution, the “Brotherhood”—whose members include, among others, C.A. Rosetti, Cezar Bolliac, Ion Heliade-Rădulescu, and Alexandru G. Golescu—Arăpilă—intends to persuade ruler Gheorghe Bibescu (1842–1848) (played by Ion Besoiu) to approve a series of reforms to improve the population’s material conditions. At the same time, a group of boyars led by Boyar Costache Șuțu (Teofil Vâlcu) and his stepson, Aristide (Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan)—who is descended from the Mavrogheni family—tries to use the Brotherhood’s actions to seize control of Wallachia themselves. While the two factions make their plans, the city is secretly ruled by the witch Strigoaia, head of the beggars’ guild, whose members include thieves and beggars. She collects protection money from merchants, arranges murders and blackmail, and bribes Agia agents. The guild plots to kill Mărgelatu, but he learns of the plan from Mârtac (Ion Dichiseanu) and escapes with his life. Boyar Șuțu’s faction plots an attempt on ruler Gheorghe Bibescu’s life and, for this purpose, asks the beggars’ guild to provide them with a man; Rabbit Lip is chosen. Thanks to information provided by the Italian Vincenzo Gonfalone (David Ohanesian), Agatha’s husband, Mărgelatu learns of the plot, informs the Brotherhood, and then manages to thwart it. He thereby saves Rabbit Lip’s life. By calling on the help of Elisafte, Lieutenant Deivos’s sister-in-law (Enikõ Szilágyi), whom Mărgelatu was courting, Mărgelatu is captured by the beggars’ guild and locked in a cellar. The heavy levies demanded of merchants spark a spontaneous revolt in the city, and several members of the Brotherhood, as well as beggars, are arrested by the Agia. The ruler orders Strigoaia’s arrest, but she escapes and frees Mărgelatu. Strigoaia gathers the members of the beggars’ guild outside the prison gates, demanding the release of those who have been arrested. Mărgelatu joins them, calling for the release of the arrested Brotherhood members. Fighting breaks out, but the Agia intervenes with cannons and puts down the uprising. In an act of bravery, Rabbit Lip is killed. Mărgelatu and Strigoaia, along with other revolutionaries, are arrested. At the end, Strigoaia removes her mask and reveals herself to be Agatha Slătineanu (Marga Barbu). She tells Mărgelatu that Rabbit Lip, whose real name is Benedetto, is her son with Gonfalone.