The TV Addict 

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS

Further fueling the current Romanian film renaissance, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS is a serious cinematic accomplishment (it even won the Golden Palm a the Cannes Film Festival last year). What makes it such a remarkable film is that on the surface its functional extremely well as a dramatically devastating abortion drama (propelled by the impressive performance of Anamaria Marinca) but if you burrow a little deeper you realize the film is simultaneously a critically impressionistic portrayal of Romania during Communist rule (the film takes place in 1986). It’s this subtlety, this representation that isn’t forced upon you so much as reveals itself, that makes the film so powerful, affecting - and at times gut-wrenching. Pay particular attention to a dinner sequence later in the film that is shot in a long-take, and though it seems to only be small-talk between people celebrating a birthday, is actually the thematic center of the film. 4 MONTHS…, ladies and gentleman, is filmmaking at its best.

Overall rating: A

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