4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"

Cristian Mungiu, 2007

This movie takes its time, slowly building from the first moment we see the visibly agitated college student, Otilia (Anamaria Marinca), nervously straightening up her dorm room, until we discover, nearly half an hour later, that she is about to assist a friend with her abortion, a crime under the Communist regime in 1980s Romania.

This is a beautifully constructed film, and its depiction of ordinary people forced into extraordinarily difficult situations, occurring within one day, makes it all the more fascinating to watch. Its scenes are assembled in an unusual manner, like vignettes from a play. Mungiu's camera, static and positioned from a distance, and often shot in long, five-minute takes, seems to give the proceedings an impartial eye - but only at first glance. This approach really allows us, in the tradition of early Realist films, to take in all of the mannerisms of these outstanding actors unabated, with hardly any editing to interrupt the film's leisurely flow.

Initially, it is not really obvious how tense the film's atmosphere truly is. But as Otilia deals with disgruntled people everywhere she goes - her boyfriend, rude hotel employees, a greedy abortion "specialist" - her frustration becomes all the more palpable. This festering apprehension leaks into the film's very atmosphere; we come to realize that we are watching a portrait of flawed people trying their hardest to survive in a system that has turned as stagnant as the film's static cinematography. And as a snapshot of a few people's dilemmas, this is a film without a climax - life, for them and for us, simply goes on.

Rating: 10

First Viewed: 7/10/08, on DVD
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