When I first saw this remarkable epic Balkan comedy from Cristian Nemescu, it was as part of a comprehensive Romanian survey at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which also included Cristian Mungiu’s feature before “Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days,” “Occident,” which Siskel is showing as well this week. I’d forgotten until an hour into this deftly directed, tonally complex comedy that the 27-year-old director and his sound engineer had died in a car crash just before “California Dreamin'” was finished. Knowing that—or recalling that—only heightens the bittersweet character. Tart irony: the Romanian subtitle, “Nesfârsit,” reportedly means “unfinished,” rather than “endless.” Based on a true incident that took place in summer 1999, “California Dreamin'” follows the progress of a secret NATO radar system being transported by train to Kosovo. A Romanian stationmaster stops the train: culture clash and comic complications ensue. Beautifully acted, tellingly observed, it’s a lovely legacy from a life cut short. The Romanian performers are wondrously sly. With Armand Assante, Razvan Vasilescu, Jamie Elman, Maria Dinulescu, Ion Sapdaru. 155m. (Ray Pride)
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