4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days [2007] [DVD]

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The friendship between two girls is tested to its absolute limits in this utterly compelling drama set in the twilight years of Communist-era Romania. Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), young and naïve, is pregnant. She turns to her more pragmatic room mate Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) for help and a meeting is arranged in a downtown hotel with the shady Mr Bebe (Vlad Ivanov). Entering a dangerous and illegal underworld where the stakes are high and nothing is as it seems, the girls are set for a life-changing experience that neither will ever forget. Brilliantly observed, superbly performed and directed with quite astonishing flair, this tense, poignant and provocative film has been hailed as a modern masterpiece. Extras: Interviews with director Cristian Mungiu & actress Anamaria Marinca / Theatrical Trailer / Filmographies From .co.uk ----------- Winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2007, this superb drama--about a black-market in 1980s Bucharest--stands at the front of a new wave of realist Romanian cinema confronting the economic and moral legacy of failed communism. The two students at the centre of this troubling story are the stoic Otilia and her exasperating friend Gabriela, whose unwanted pregnancy--terminations are outlawed under a national fertility program--forces them to seek the help of a back-alley ist: Mr. Bebe. At first cautious and capable, Mr. Bebe's sordid demands expose the depths of Bucharest's seedy underground economy. The tone of this simple and desperate tale is aided by the period detail of Nicolae Ceaușescu's Romania: a boxy dystopia of ID cards, suspicious staff and drab interiors suggests the oppressive state apparatus that has forced the troubles of young Romanians underground. But the film's harshest word is for Romania's established classes--represented by the sentimental doctor parents of Otillia's boyfriend--who are blind to the vulnerability of a new generation of Romanians. The film's harrowing climactic scene is a reproach to their complacency. --Leo Batchelor P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review ------ 'A masterpiece...outstanding" ***** --Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian 'The first must-see movie of the year' ***** --The Times 'Brilliantly ...invites comparison to The Lives of Others...compelling' --The Independent See more ( javascript:void(0) )