4 luni, 3 săptămâni și 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
2007
****
Director: Christian Mungiu
Cast: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Adi Carauleanu, Luminiţa Gheorghiu, Mădălina Ghiţescu, Alexandru Potocean
It's 1987 and abortion is outlawed in Romania. Găbiţa, a hapless young student, seeks illegal termination, but it's her loyal friend and roommate Otilia (the excellent Anamaria Marinca) who makes it all happen. This grim but hopeful drama shows the procedure and its outcome in great detail, but its stance is both pro-choice and pro-life. What the film does best is to illustrate the Ceauşescu regime's oppressive and patriarchal stranglehold on all layers of the society. This is done with subtlety, and the (after)effect is powerful. Mungiu builds his film of long slow takes, most powerful of which is a dinner party that Otilia is forced to attend in the middle of her horrific day.
