David O'Connell4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
November 10th 2009 03:36
Life must have been testing for Romanians under the reign of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. In re-envisioning that blighted era of his country’s history, talented young filmmaker Cristian Mungiu decided to tell a simple but striking tale of two female friends. Over the course of a single day in 1987, the pair's wavering notion of morality will come into conflict with their need for subversive action to evade an unwanted responsibility.
This is the story of an unwanted foetus and the measures taken to remove it from a woman's body, but Mungiu’s film is less about the pregnant woman, Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) than her best friend Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) who does all the secretive, illegal negotiating on her friend’s behalf.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) takes pains to unmask the abject ordinariness of these women’s lives in their bland dorms, the camera following Otilia like a shadow as she visits various neighbours before setting out to put the final pieces in place for her friend’s termination. With the cold, probing eye associated with the films of the Dardenne Brothers - in particular, Rosetta (1999) - and the Lars Von Trier-initiated Dogme movement, Mungui’s film establishes an effectively grim, naturalistic tone from the outset. Though the opening sequence is perhaps its least interesting, it's vital for laying a foundation for the drama that follows.
A real strength of the film is its use of lengthy, entrancing takes in which the strength of the performances take over; the scene in which crudely competent abortionist Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) explains his operational process and its ramifications to the women is riveting stuff. Moral boundaries are crossed - both in broader social terms, those of personal cost, and the desperation which motivates Otilia in particular to sacrifice herself on behalf on her friend.
Another standout sequence sees Otilia stepping out from their rented hotel room to fulfill a promise to visit her boyfriend’s mother at a birthday party. Desperate to be back with the untended Gabita, she gets trapped at a table between babbling relatives whose conversational tone is in direct contrast to her dire mood; she’s resentful but compelled by a strange sense of obligation and Mungiu’s camera doesn’t move for nearly 10 minutes. In this lone, static shot we see Otilia and her boyfriend squashed at the end of the table between blissfully ignorant partygoers; the frivolity continues around them, cocooning them in their misery. It’s a remarkable scene for its simplicity and for the stoic, telling, yet wordless reaction from Otilia.
Mungiu employs no score and uses only natural light to coldly illuminate his film; the effect is like being immersed in documentary footage of the time. Importantly, the authenticity never feels undermined by calculation or some sly, cynical need for twists to avenge the narrative’s small scale. There are no self-consciously 'big' moments in Mungiu's screenplay, and yet two more memorable scenes leave their mark: Otilia’s numbed reaction to the abortion’s aftermath and then the course of action she undertakes to eliminate the ‘evidence’. The horrifying matter-of-fact nature of her efforts is a chilling insight into the dissidence needed to survive in such a repressive society.
There’s no thwarting Otilia’s need to maintain the set course; this, despite the discomfort the whole episode has caused for her more than anyone else. The amazing Marinca’s portrayal of this unnervingly level-headed woman provides the film with its believable core. Ivanov, as the chillingly efficient, no-nonsense Bebe makes the most of his scenes; the possibility of violence is suggested by his demeanour, and although it's never resorted to, Otilia’s acquiescence out of necessity when the women’s chance appears to be slipping away is just as damaging as any blow struck in anger.
Winner of the esteemed Palme d'Or at Cannes, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is an emotional experience despite the detachment with which Mungiu explores this painfully dark and secluded era of his country's past. It's a defining piece of cinema; clinical, valid, fresh, troubling and yet as invigorating as any work of art should be.
This is the story of an unwanted foetus and the measures taken to remove it from a woman's body, but Mungiu’s film is less about the pregnant woman, Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) than her best friend Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) who does all the secretive, illegal negotiating on her friend’s behalf.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) takes pains to unmask the abject ordinariness of these women’s lives in their bland dorms, the camera following Otilia like a shadow as she visits various neighbours before setting out to put the final pieces in place for her friend’s termination. With the cold, probing eye associated with the films of the Dardenne Brothers - in particular, Rosetta (1999) - and the Lars Von Trier-initiated Dogme movement, Mungui’s film establishes an effectively grim, naturalistic tone from the outset. Though the opening sequence is perhaps its least interesting, it's vital for laying a foundation for the drama that follows.
Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) with Gabita ((Laura Vasiliu)
A real strength of the film is its use of lengthy, entrancing takes in which the strength of the performances take over; the scene in which crudely competent abortionist Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) explains his operational process and its ramifications to the women is riveting stuff. Moral boundaries are crossed - both in broader social terms, those of personal cost, and the desperation which motivates Otilia in particular to sacrifice herself on behalf on her friend.
Another standout sequence sees Otilia stepping out from their rented hotel room to fulfill a promise to visit her boyfriend’s mother at a birthday party. Desperate to be back with the untended Gabita, she gets trapped at a table between babbling relatives whose conversational tone is in direct contrast to her dire mood; she’s resentful but compelled by a strange sense of obligation and Mungiu’s camera doesn’t move for nearly 10 minutes. In this lone, static shot we see Otilia and her boyfriend squashed at the end of the table between blissfully ignorant partygoers; the frivolity continues around them, cocooning them in their misery. It’s a remarkable scene for its simplicity and for the stoic, telling, yet wordless reaction from Otilia.
Mungiu employs no score and uses only natural light to coldly illuminate his film; the effect is like being immersed in documentary footage of the time. Importantly, the authenticity never feels undermined by calculation or some sly, cynical need for twists to avenge the narrative’s small scale. There are no self-consciously 'big' moments in Mungiu's screenplay, and yet two more memorable scenes leave their mark: Otilia’s numbed reaction to the abortion’s aftermath and then the course of action she undertakes to eliminate the ‘evidence’. The horrifying matter-of-fact nature of her efforts is a chilling insight into the dissidence needed to survive in such a repressive society.
Otilia at the hotel with Bebe (Vlad Ivanov)
There’s no thwarting Otilia’s need to maintain the set course; this, despite the discomfort the whole episode has caused for her more than anyone else. The amazing Marinca’s portrayal of this unnervingly level-headed woman provides the film with its believable core. Ivanov, as the chillingly efficient, no-nonsense Bebe makes the most of his scenes; the possibility of violence is suggested by his demeanour, and although it's never resorted to, Otilia’s acquiescence out of necessity when the women’s chance appears to be slipping away is just as damaging as any blow struck in anger.
Winner of the esteemed Palme d'Or at Cannes, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is an emotional experience despite the detachment with which Mungiu explores this painfully dark and secluded era of his country's past. It's a defining piece of cinema; clinical, valid, fresh, troubling and yet as invigorating as any work of art should be.
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