Here at TKBB there is no such thing as a bad Romanian dance-pop music video. Sure, some (like this one) may seem bizarre, tacky, or tasteless, but they are remarkably different than the American, or even European norm. The Romanian beat (adopted from traditional sounds) always seems to evoke a mysterious high-class vibe and the visual narrative (often of love) matches the music perfectly. Watch it in 1080p!

The popular video for “Morena” (just released a couple of weeks ago by Roton) takes place in a classic Romanian setting at a resort. The gorgeous female vocalist, Antonia, performs for an audience, although her words are directed not at the crowd, but at her apparent female lover, Morena. The men in the audience (especially Tom Boxer himself) are smitten by Antonia. Older folks in the crowd are moved by the song as well, and dance along. The final scene of the video is a verbal confrontation between Antonia and Morena, with Antonia accusing her lover of cheating on her with a man. After an embrace or two, the women optimistically leave the resort in a Bentley. In the process we see juxtapositions of beauty and age, of motion and stillness, and of Romanian and English cultures.

Dozens of the 140,000 YouTube viewers have left comments in Romanian, but the consensus seems to be positive. Critics, however, feel the storyline is too sexist or just too unbelievable. Additionally, they find the acting forced. Others question the editing techniques. However, it is these touches that make “Morena” such a unique video. The visual shots (most notably those of Antonia’s mouth) are slowed down so they do not perfectly match the audio. Whoever made this decision is genius: the prolonged visuals better match the emotion of the backing track and allow the viewer to grasp the desperation of the singer. (An added bonus of this effect is that a male audience has more time to study the gorgeous women) Additionally, viewers need to realize the final scene is meant to be like a soap opera and that Antonia and the model playing Morena speak Romanian as a first language. Why would the director and producer create such a classy video and decide to ruin it with poor English accents? They wouldn’t. Instead, the video is intended to appeal to the global English-speaking market.

Regardless of the quality of the video, it is interesting to see how native Romanians have reacted to the themes of “Morena”. If you are interested, perform a Google Translation of Tom Boxer’s blog.