4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Deserving of the Golden Palm at Cannes, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days is an amazing film about the a friend helping her roommate have an illegal abortion in Romania. I enjoyed the film because it narrates an experience without exploiting the issue. The story itself is powerful enough. Withholding the back story of both leading females only allowed looking at the current struggle of each character and eliminated any opportunity to judge either of them. The performances are amazing, especially Anamaria Marinca as Otilia. Marinca's performance at the dinner party and final dining scene with Gabita is flawless. From beginning to end, I could not take myself out of the moment and lives of these two women nor will I forget them or their struggles.

I have waited for a long time to see this movie, and when I finally did, I was more disappointed than happy for Mungiu. I was almost sure that such awards are not given in vain, and I can say they weren't actually given in vain, but in my opinion the depth this movie is seeking is more of an artificial kind. It's just a story, one of thousands such stories in communist Romania, but it doesn't go far enough to reach the core of the problem, to discover what those people went through, what those people dreamt of. It shows only the dark part of a human dilemma, some sort of underworld, focusing on the girl's decision, not on her feelings about it. Still it's worth seeing for those who have no idea of romanian cinema, just out of curiosity. I would recommend the movie "Moartea domnului Lazarescu (Mr Lazarescu's death)" to those interested to see a bit of romanian reality in a psychological, almost real-time movie.

More than a movie about abortion or communism (or communism as an abortion), " 4, 3, 2" is a masterpiece about discreet manipulation in human relationships, about subliminal cheating and unconditional involvement in friendship … about simple things and small compromises that made those times hard to cope with … about the lack of major consequences … about "and I'm in love with you" (the last and the only movie soundtrack) when in fact nobody is in love with no one … maybe only in some way Otilia with Gabitza .. and rather us all with Otilia … all of us who believed that "4 3 2" is in fact a countdown … A multi-faced movie … a remembering of the mistakes in order not to be repeated … and the difficulty of speaking about them

there is nothing in this movie to win a prize... i am from romania... there are still people who are acting like in 80s, there are still many problems, many persons who cant have a smile on their faces when they do their jobs behind one desk. i am tired of this kind of films, you take a big subject (like communism in romania) and show many bad things and voila its a drama. if you have a camera and you go in romania filming, you will find many same situation like in this film,or many others nice things , so you don't have to be a smart A§. to make such a film. i expected that this movie has something, but it doesn't.you may try another film from romania its called California dreaming, this movie has a lil bit more spirit(not much tough) . mugiu a message for you- try another job!and for the rest of your kind its valid as well!

This movie contains a fragment of life exactly as it was in Romania in 1987. The story is told without protecting the viewer from the realities presented. Life then was like that - some were protected by 'playing' the system - like the family of Otilia's boyfriend. This is how the majority of Romanians lived their lives and avoided the punishment of the regime. It was considered 'stupid' to do otherwise. Until you do get caught in the middle like the girls did. You didn't have to complain or protest against the regime - the regime would come and find you if you weren't careful. This is what a lot of people in the West don't understand about life behind the iron curtain. This film shows this bluntly. Indeed this is the best Romanian movie I have ever seen so far. And is one of the best I have ever seen!

'4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' is a film that holds you captive in the repressive world that is reality. It's a film that holds you captive in time and a film that will never leave my mind. Mungiu crafted this with deep thought and precision with perfection in mind. It would be easy to use "communist" Romania as a setting to send an anti-communist/anti-dictatorship message and leave it at that, but what's presented is much, more, than that. '4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 Days' depicts life under oppression in excruciating detail. Presented respectfully, without manipulation, shot with patience and rigorously written. It's technically perfect. A bold portrait of love is painted only once you have experienced agony. Otillia' love is tested simply because of what she and her loved ones experience.

A college student tries to get an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania. Mungui favors long takes and a stationary camera. While such a ploy can be effective if used in the right situation, here it becomes a tiresome gimmick as scenes continue long after they have ceased to be interesting. For example, there's a static dinner scene that lasts about ten minutes with secondary characters babbling on and on about mundane things unrelated to the main story. The acting is pretty good, particularly Marinca in the lead role of the sympathetic friend. However, the narrative flow is weak; instead of a compelling story, it's almost like a documentary on the perils of illegal abortion.

This movie is a very has a plot that is very thick and is carried all the way by the actors you will not find anything in here "hollywood like" if your are looking for a soft drama don't look for it here. This movie will put you to the test mentally and in the moral aspect the main subject is an abortion but it is only a piece the director uses to develop the emotions and intentions of every character. The movie is an excellent example that you can do a lot with just a little, when you have the talent. This movie will continue to win more and more awards until the Oscar's and my vote is that it must win Best foreign film award.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romanian: 4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile) (2007) Director: Cristian Mungiu Watched: 7/5/15 Rating: 7/10 What kind of friend allows their friend to prostitute themselves in exchange for their own abortion? Rather, what kind of person? Unbelievable. They showed the fetus (abandoned by said inconsiderate person for said amazing friend to be responsible for while she went to get something to eat). Shocking, as the truth can be at times. Even a little traumatizing. An otherwise well acted, directed, and suspensefully paced film. Forcing us to face what goes on in other parts of the world; the human rights horrors that many would otherwise rather turn a blind eye to. #FilmReview #Palmed'Or #Romanian