Saturday 31 May 2008

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 Luni, 3 Saptamini si 2 Zile) [2007]


The gritty and much acclaimed Romanian movie 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a marvelous slice of life from the oppressive regime of Ceausescu – one of the most hated dictators of modern times. Set in Communist governed Bucharest, just before the end of cold war, the movie captures just a single day in the life of its protagonist – a young female student whose roommate wants to have an abortion – which, by the way, was illegal in Romania. Laced with unflinching realism, and structured as part political commentary, part introspective human drama and part tense thriller, the movie is a near flawless work of art. The film saunters from the topic at hand to various seemingly inconsequential actions which play a holistic role in defining and detailing its very well-etched characters and the world around them. Minimalist in composition but profound in its effect, the movie does what good art should do – it is philosophical, disturbing and thought provoking, without being judgmental or corny. Very aptly titled (the irony of the title wouldn’t go unnoticed once you’ve watched the movie) and extremely well enacted, watch this immensely powerful movie if you are into good, serious and no-nonsense cinema.







Director: Cristian Mungiu
Genre: Drama/Urban Drama/Slice of Life
Language: Romanian
Country: Romania

2 comments:

Joel Bocko said...

Excellent capsule. A very compelling movie, complex and gripping. I saw it a couple years ago, though & am not sure what you meant by the irony of the title...

Shubhajit said...

Thanks a lot MovieMan. Complex & gripping are both apt descriptions of the film. The irony of the title is that it gives us the very essence of the film, though it might not mean much until one is appraised of the basic issue & its implication being faced by the 2 girls.