4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Artificial Eye

Romania, the Eighties – under Ceausescu’s regime. Otilia and Gabita live in a grim University dorm and are planning an apparently innocent trip. But Gabita is pregnant and has booked an illegal abortion.

The two friends embark on a personal Inferno that will see Otilia taking all the responsibility on her shoulders and fighting a despondent society with her bright wit.

The hotel receptionists put her words in doubt; the improvised abortionist, ironically called Bebe, will take advantage of the girls’ inexperience.

As Gabita lies on her bed waiting for blood to flow, Otilia has to attend a family dinner at her boyriend’s. When she comes back, she also has to deal with the gruesome consequences of the abortion.
At the end of their nightmarish adventure, the girls swear “We won’t talk about this again”.

All the fame and buzz around this film is totally deserved, how it is truly representative of the new Romanian wave, how gripping and harrowing it is, how its sobriety and directorial rigour make the story even more tense and at times painful to watch.
 But it is also a merciless portrait of the Ceausescu era and its de-humanizing social rules, in contrast to today’s relative freedom.

As the camera relentlessly follows the protagonist during one afternoon and one evening, the audience can’t help but having the creeps at the many risks and humiliations Otilia takes.

Director Cristian Mungiu, whose first feature Occident had made a sensation at Cannes film festival five years ago, has now rightfully won the Palme d’Or; his film is now being released widely across the UK.

 His way of directing is a precious lesson in drama thriller, one of a kind that Hollywood cannot provide anymore.
4 Months, 3 weeks, 2 days is painful to watch, yes; but so refreshing and unusual that it restores even the most cynical critic’s hope in future cinema.  

Vera Brozzoni

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