Brilliant.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2008)
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Anamaria Marinca, Vlad Ivanov, Laura Vasilu
DVD Info
Release:
Nov 30, 1999
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
- Dolby Digital Stereo - Romanian
- Subtitled - English
Reviews
At times unbearably tense, this harrowing drama deservedly won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, thanks to superb direction, a gripping, suspenseful script and a terrific central performance from Anamaria Marinca.
Themes of altruism and selfishness colour the harrowing realism; the camerawork is skilful, with many scenes unfolding in one, locked frame; and the performances are superb.
A keenly observed and ferociously realistic somber political drama about an illegal abortion in the Romania of 1987.
Like another recent streetwise Cannes prize winner, the Belgian film L'Enfant, it is stripped of sentimentality and pretense. It is visually static, glacially paced and dramatically unvarnished.
This is a low, slow whistle film. Just wow. Gripping. Emotionally honest. Frustrating, too. Sad. Not one many pro-lifers would enjoy although the message coming at me loud and clear was 'nothing is worth going through that!'
I'm glad I saw it, even though I can't imagine ever wanting to see it again.
...a stark bleak testimony to friendship and the indomitability of the human spirit.
It's a hard film to watch, especially if you know where it goes--I had to brace myself to see it a second time. But it's an important film, one of great feeling. It even works as a thriller.
(Cristian) Mungiu creates great screen tension when he introduces the black-market abortionist.
Writer-director Cristian Mungiu uses long, naturalistic shots and creates a credibly grimy atmosphere to depict life in the dying regime.
It’s an astonishing piece, and Cristian Mungiu establishes himself as a world-class director.
Un drama austero, que puede resultar en una experiencia tensa, agobiante y hasta repulsiva, acerca de un tema polémico sobre el cual la película evita tomar partido.
The riveting second half rewards your patience and tolerance for emotional pain.
There's no obvious 'style' in 4 Months, unless you count utterly natural acting, brutal but compassionate storytelling and disciplined camera work as a style.
[Anamaria Marinca's] convincing performance as the clearly conflicted Otilia holds our interest throughout the film.
Cristian Mungiu's masterful chronicle is impressive above all for the way it respects the audience, expecting them to follow the implications of its multifaceted tale without always spelling them out.
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