It is Bucharest in 1972. Ceausescu has been in power for seven years already, and the fabric of ordinary life has been soaked with repressive methods of his regime for so long that it has started to fall apart. And yet, even on such an increasingly grim stage, a rose of a first love is blooming. The slow, elegant, richly designed film debut of Alexandru Belc is much more than a Romanian echo of Romeo and Juliet. 

The 17-year-old Ana finds out that her boyfriend would escape from the country forever in a few days. The two young lovers decide to spend the days before the escape together. 

The metaphor of the title follows the film’s dynamic. A metronome indicates that musicians are out of sync. The film Metronome describes how even young people – those who are most prone to rebelion and optimistic self-expression in any society – can be forced to follow the grim, marching rhythm of authoritarianism in lock step.