Friendship and support in our normal everyday life is a very valuable thing to have. In a repressive environment where one misstep can cause imprisonment or worse, it is often the only avenue for survival. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, is about the bond between two young Romanian students who are there for each in moments of crisis, in this case - an illegal abortion, carried out in stealth, where danger is an insidious presence at all times, a caution to those in our own country wishing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Reminiscent of the style of the Dardenne Brothers with its close-ups and hand-held camera, the film is mostly understated and key events happen off camera (with one glaring exception), yet it is a very demanding film, powerfully acted and totally convincing, as uncompromising as any film I have seen in recent memory.
Set in Romania in 1987 during the final days of the Ceausescu regime, 432 conveys a pervasive grayness that underscores the sterility of life in Eastern Europe at the time. If there was a bright and happy side to life in Romania in the late eighties, you will not find it here. For the first thirty minutes, preparations are being made for an unspecified event by two students in a college dormitory in Bucharest that looks like the interior of a hotel scheduled for demolition. One roommate Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) sends the other, Otilla (Anamaria Marinca), to procure items such as cigarettes, soaps, and beauty items and to borrow money from friends but we do not learn what the money is for. The two women are very different. Gabita is passive, almost helpless, while Otilla is more self assured and outgoing, though she is also circumspect in displaying her emotions.
Mingu does not show us the world in which the girls live or any of the circumstances that led to Gabita's drastic decision to have the abortion. It is just a given. When it is revealed that Gabita is pregnant and is seeking an abortion, it is the more aggressive Otilla who makes the arrangements. Trying to book a room at the hotels that were suggested, Otilla is thwarted by cold, bureaucratic clerks who act as if they just came from the hospital attending Mr. Lazarescu. Gabita's failure to confirm hotel reservations means that Otilla has to settle for a third hotel not on the list. When she meets with Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov), the illegal abortionist, he is perturbed that she came instead of Gabita and even more distressed that neither of the two hotels he suggested were booked.
A scene outside a building in which Bebe scolds his elderly mother creates more anxiety for Otilla and the meeting at the hotel between the two women and the abortionist is replete with threats, bullying tactics, and demands for more money. When the sleazy abortionist discovers that Gabita is not two months pregnant as she had said but 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, he ups the ante. Cynically citing the risks he is taking that could result in a long prison term, Bebe only agrees to perform the abortion after both women reluctantly agree to have sex with him. Heightening the feeling of uneasiness, Otilla leaves Gabita alone in her hotel room propped up on two pillows unable to move, as she fulfills a promise to her boyfriend, Adi (Alex Potocean), to attend his mother's birthday party.
Otilla is sullen and uncommunicative and the conversation among family members goes on and on, making her feel more and more isolated. One relative criticizes her asking for a cigarette and goes into a speech about the failings of the younger generation as Otilla looks for a reason to leave. As the film winds to a gripping conclusion, the almost unbearable tension had many in the sold out audience stirring uncomfortably in their seats. Though 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days depicts the oppressive nature of the social system and its laws, it is not a polemic against Communism or illegal abortions, but is more about the dignity of two women, friends who are willing to take risks and sacrifice for each other without expectation of reward or even thanks.
Set in Romania in 1987 during the final days of the Ceausescu regime, 432 conveys a pervasive grayness that underscores the sterility of life in Eastern Europe at the time. If there was a bright and happy side to life in Romania in the late eighties, you will not find it here. For the first thirty minutes, preparations are being made for an unspecified event by two students in a college dormitory in Bucharest that looks like the interior of a hotel scheduled for demolition. One roommate Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) sends the other, Otilla (Anamaria Marinca), to procure items such as cigarettes, soaps, and beauty items and to borrow money from friends but we do not learn what the money is for. The two women are very different. Gabita is passive, almost helpless, while Otilla is more self assured and outgoing, though she is also circumspect in displaying her emotions.
Mingu does not show us the world in which the girls live or any of the circumstances that led to Gabita's drastic decision to have the abortion. It is just a given. When it is revealed that Gabita is pregnant and is seeking an abortion, it is the more aggressive Otilla who makes the arrangements. Trying to book a room at the hotels that were suggested, Otilla is thwarted by cold, bureaucratic clerks who act as if they just came from the hospital attending Mr. Lazarescu. Gabita's failure to confirm hotel reservations means that Otilla has to settle for a third hotel not on the list. When she meets with Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov), the illegal abortionist, he is perturbed that she came instead of Gabita and even more distressed that neither of the two hotels he suggested were booked.
A scene outside a building in which Bebe scolds his elderly mother creates more anxiety for Otilla and the meeting at the hotel between the two women and the abortionist is replete with threats, bullying tactics, and demands for more money. When the sleazy abortionist discovers that Gabita is not two months pregnant as she had said but 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, he ups the ante. Cynically citing the risks he is taking that could result in a long prison term, Bebe only agrees to perform the abortion after both women reluctantly agree to have sex with him. Heightening the feeling of uneasiness, Otilla leaves Gabita alone in her hotel room propped up on two pillows unable to move, as she fulfills a promise to her boyfriend, Adi (Alex Potocean), to attend his mother's birthday party.
Otilla is sullen and uncommunicative and the conversation among family members goes on and on, making her feel more and more isolated. One relative criticizes her asking for a cigarette and goes into a speech about the failings of the younger generation as Otilla looks for a reason to leave. As the film winds to a gripping conclusion, the almost unbearable tension had many in the sold out audience stirring uncomfortably in their seats. Though 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days depicts the oppressive nature of the social system and its laws, it is not a polemic against Communism or illegal abortions, but is more about the dignity of two women, friends who are willing to take risks and sacrifice for each other without expectation of reward or even thanks.