Saptamîna nebunilor (1971)

During “Madmen’s Week,” the final week of Lent, Prince Caragea and his daughter Ralu fall victim to a raid by haiduks led by Anghel Șaptecaia, who steal Ralu’s dowry of jewelry. Afterward, they return to the palace and instruct Mamulos, captain of the Arnauts, to recover the stolen jewels. On the way to their hideout, the haiduks encounter a procession of poor people. They consider helping them, but Anghel realizes that the authorities would take away any jewelry he gave them. Hearing that the sluger Tudor Vladimirescu is gathering an army to overthrow the Phanariots, Anghel also wants to contribute. He therefore sends the haiduk Voinea to Brașov to negotiate with the gunsmith Hans Müller for the purchase of 2,000–3,000 firearms in exchange for the jewelry. At the haiduks’ hideout, Caliopi, Ianuli Arnolto’s abducted wife, makes another attempt to escape, wounding Anghel with a pistol. Soon afterward, she saves his life by removing the bullet with a red-hot rod. Feelings begin to develop between them. In Bucharest, Ianuli is beside himself with worry over his wife’s absence and contacts Mamulos, who had tried to get information from Anița. The haiduks learn about the terror Mamulos is inflicting on the peasants as he searches for Anghel. While preparing to defend themselves, Anghel discovers that Caliopi is missing and sets out to find her. He falls into a trap set by Mamulos’s Arnauts, who have recaptured Caliopi. The haiduks try to save Anghel but are outwitted by the Arnauts. In Bucharest, Anghel is tortured in an effort to make him reveal the location of Ralu’s dowry. Another attempt by the haiduks to free Anghel as he is being taken to the palace dungeons fails because Mamulos is vigilant. On returning home, Caliopi tells Ianuli that she has stopped loving him and now loves Anghel. Unwilling to accept this, Ianuli locks his wife in a room under the care of the servant Jean. Anița orders Răspopitul to hand the jewelry over to Mamulos in exchange for Anghel’s release. Anghel thus fakes his death by hanging. As he is about to be buried in the river, Mamulos kills the gravediggers and hands Anghel over to the haiduks. But Mamulos has plans of his own for Ralu’s dowry. He intends to cash it in to travel to Vienna with Anița, with whom he has fallen in love. However, an appraisal by a jeweler reveals that the jewelry is fake. It turns out that Ianuli had commissioned a copy of the jewelry in Vienna and given that copy to Ralu, keeping the originals for himself. Ianuli hides the jewels in the chapel chandelier. Realizing this, both the haiduks and the Arnauts make their way to the Arnolto estate. Anghel wants to question Ianuli, but the Arnauts attack him. He escapes, while Mamulos fights Jean and kills him, then orders Ianuli to reveal where he hid the jewelry. Ianuli and Mamulos discover that the jewels are missing; Anghel had stolen them earlier. With the advantage on their side, the haiduks defeat the Arnauts. Frustrated by everything, Ianuli comes across Caliopi and kills her, which drives him insane. Anghel discovers Caliopi’s death and, overcome with grief, hides in Anița’s tavern. Mamulos follows his trail, but Anghel shoots him and escapes the Arnauts. On the final night of Madmen’s Week, Voinea reaches Anghel and tells him that the deal with Müller has succeeded. Anghel hands over Ralu’s dowry as payment for the firearms. Full of energy, Anghel and Răspopitul enlist in the Wallachian uprising.