4 Monate, 3 Wochen und 2 Tage

Romania, 1987. Two years before the fall of the Ceauşescu regime, a student helps her friend to obtain an illegal abortion. "4 luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 Zile" details the events of a single day in which both girls will face circumstances of growing despair and horror. A question is asked and answered: What would you do for a friend?

I don't think I can praise "4 luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 Zile" highly enough. I thought that "4 luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 Zile" was a great film, perfectly executed.

There are some particular words I would use to describe this film. Compelling, downbeat, tense, shocking, harrowing and graphic. The country of Romania itself is a character in this movie. A cold and unfriendly place. Practically everything appearing to be worn down, old and shabby. The people are tired, irritated and impatient. I think it is a snapshot of a kind of hell on Earth.

There are stunning performances by Anamaria Marinca (some people might remember how good she was a couple of years ago in "Sex Traffic" on Channel 4) and Laura Vasiliu as the two girls. (Check out the scene of Anamaria Marinca at a family birthday party. A masterclass of internalised acting and suppressed emotion. She is doing practically nothing, but her mind is elsewhere. You can see it in her eyes.) Also, a couple of words of praise for Vlad Ivanov as Mr. Bebe, the abortionist. His performance as Mr. Bebe is a calculated study of bland and indifferent evil. Quietly spoken, balding, middle aged in his comfortable jumper and comfortable shoes. Manipulative, advantage taking, awful and chilling. Really chilling.

However you line up on the subject of abortion, pro-choice or pro-life, you should see this film. One of the best of the year.

What would you do for a friend?

I'm in awe with 'realist' films, especially the one that actually works such as this one. In the climax track shot of walking through the city at night, how do they stage all the noise, the dog, the cars, the everything? It's crazy that i'm super impressed by how organic and realistic it is. Which is odd, because usually i go to movies to see how clever a filmmaker can be with twisting reality. But this was clearly magic to have been able to present a simple act (walking) in a simple composition (face dead center), with all of the familiar elements of nighttime in the city, and brought it all together to heighten the experience of this girl carrying what it seems like, all the worry in the world. It brought me back an almost childish/immediate feeling of being afraid walking alone at night, but of course compared to film, i've never walked alone at night with that much at stake.

But this is where the movie is most successful, the film presents you with people living in a type of harsh system that i can't imagine here living in the states. But the feelings and emotions that are portrayed are universal, the feeling of being young and afraid, feeling of sneaking behind the law, risking something for your friend , feeling of regret. And in this film the moral compass is clear, they know the system is unjust and they do things out of love and care for one another.

But for us here in the states, where government and law has seeped itself into everything, where we don't sometimes realized our own systematic oppression, how much of our sense of right/wrong is driven by government and the law? how much of it is actually driven by love and passion for real people?

It's 1987 Romania under the brutal Ceausescu communist dictatorship. Gabita (Laura Vasliu) is more than 4 Months pregnant and she's desperate for a highly illegal abortion. Her friend Otilia Mihartescu (Anamaria Marinca) searches all day setting up the abortion with Mr. Bebe. He starts complaining about them not following his instructions and demands more money which the girls don't have. Then he wants sex from both women as payment. After the abortion, Otilia has to go to her boyfriend's family dinner while Gabita waits in the hotel for the abortion to take hold.

This Romanian indie is done in long extended shots. Some of them are slow but mostly, they are very engaging. Some of them are harrowing. It takes its time to get to the point of the movie. The world in this film is a cold hard place. The style of the film only adds to its harshness. There is no pretty camera tricks or beautiful shots. It's a bleak film of a bleak world. The acting is natural and stark. The movie follows Anamaria Marinca. She is mostly unemotionally as she quietly suffers the indignity of Bebe. She shows that she has a good range and she's compelling as the lead. Laura Vasliu's role is a minor one where she can be more emotional. The movie is unrelentingly in its casual bleakness.

A visceral and emotionally draining experience. Those are not typical superlatives one usually conjures while commenting on a movie, yet in this case I dare use such a characterization as a positive rendering of what I felt when watching this film.

The spartan and minimalist style of the movie only adds to its potency. Though many might find it jarring to sit through, I can only hope that people will have the patience and resolve to watch this brilliant example of movie making. If you invest your time and emotions in this one, you will not be disappointed.

The acting, camera work, cinematography are of the highest quality, especially given the budgetary restrictions and scarcity of available resources.This movie is yet more ample proof that one does not necessarily need a 200 million dollar budget to make a great film. Creativity and originality can add untold dimensions to any physical limitations and barriers.

All in all a great "little" movie about a forgotten slice of history, a little known place and, a time of horrifying brutality and oppression i.e. the so-called Golden Age (epoca de aur), Romania and Nicolae Ceausescu. This movie, "4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile/4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" is the first installment in a proposed trilogy entitled "Amintiri din epoca de aur/Tales From The Golden Age".

I'm looking forward to the next chapters...

Chritian Mungiu delivers one of the finer suspense films in the past few years. Set in Ceausescu's grim murderous police state, I was reminded of Polanski's shocker "Repulsion" albeit without the Gothic thrills. It's a loaded subject matter of abortion that sets the scene, but we aren't asked to take sides in someones polemic. The nightmare that unfolds is probably played out often, and that's the movie's genius. We identify quickly with the dilemma even though the bureaucratic maze the characters have to bribe and finagle there way through is in extreme.

The smallest details are accurate and riveting, from the possibly dire consequences of not paying a bus fare to eavesdropping on a conversation between a mother and her son that's suddenly interrupted by the sound of gun shot, the protagonist here (and what a courageous beauty she turns out to be) has nerves of steel that any action hero would envy.

It's our loss that this may be the only time we get to see Anamarie Marinca perform. She's nearly in every shot in the film and her unsteady conviction to her friend who is seeking an abortion is mesmerizing to watch. Her foil, Laura Vasiliu, is maddeningly dense and just as effective as the girl who's so lost in her dilemma that you can't tell if her judgment is impaired by her predicament or she's simple-minded. It's a touching performance that's also infuriating because of the dangers she sets in motion all around her.

The mise en scene here is one of a master. Midway through the film, there's a stunning set piece where Marinca and her boyfriend are full screen at a party, the camera never moves and they don't speak a word while adults chatter all around them while only occasionally hands enter the frame. The tension that results is almost unbearable when a telephone rings off in the distance, and Marinca is unable to move to find out if it's a desperate call for help...or simply someone calling to wish Happy Birthday.

There are many, many such fine moments in this movie. It shows that horror isn't necessarily the boogie man or a creature from outer space. It can be of our own making, both individually and by the government that rules us.