date watched: June 4th, 2009
location: at home. private copy.
This film won the 2007 Cannes Palme D'or, which is the highest award one can receive at the festival.
I think this is possibly the first (and best) Romanian film I've seen, so props to Cristian Mungju for getting recognized!
This is definitely not for the weak of heart. It isn't super violent or gory or anything, but the subject matter is rather controversial, and women (especially PREGNANT women, may I add) may not want to encounter a film dealing with abortion.
Note to the weak of heart: THIS IS A SPOILER--the aborted baby is shown (I know, right? I honestly didn't think they would include this POV shot)
The film style is rather simple, however. The majority of the film is comprised of long takes, and the ones that aren't are shaky (hand-held camera, no doubt).
Some of the most frustrating scenes take place at the Hotel reception desk. The protagonist, Otilia (played by Annamaria Marinca), who is the active counterpart for her pregnant roommate, Gabita (played by Laura Vasiliu), must haggle her way into obtaining a free hotel room. The trouble does not end with the haggling, however. The irresponsible Gabita has not followed the "doctor's" rules carefully: 1) she has not reserved a room at the hotel mentioned on the phone, and 2) she did not meet the "doctor" (facetiously named "Bebe") in person. To add to the complications, Gabita lied about the duration of her pregnancy, and about Otilia's identity ("my sister," she said).
If you weren't aware that this was a film about abortion, you would think it was about prostitution. But in a way, it is about prostitution. In order to ensure the abortion, the two women give themselves for Bebe. The tagline for the film on imdb.com, actually a question, captures the essence of this theme: "How far would you go for a friend?"
The title refers to three types of time: "four months" refers how long Gabita has been pregnant; "three weeks" is the amount of deliberation the two girls took to get to this point of no return; and "two days" refers to the time spent inside the hotel room.
One cannot help but feel a tinge of spite for Gabita. She seems so careless, as opposed to Otilia, who is only indirectly involved in this abortion. Otilia's characterization is rather brilliant. The audience follows her around everywhere, like a faithful watchdog: she buys goods from other dormmates; she meets her boyfriend; she calls Gabita; she stops by to celebrate her boyfriend's mother's birthday; she disposes of the aborted baby. She is constantly huffing and puffing, walking through dark alleys, and climbing flights of stairs, all to make sure Gabita is taken care of. Gabita, meanwhile, is only seen inside, and inactive: in her dorm room at the commencement of the film, and inside the hotel room. This film may thus be making a broad political claim, that while one individual may shout an order, there are always others beneath him to execute the order, to do all the dirty work.
Mungju certainly doesn't believe in doing "dirty laundry at home," it seems. I can imagine the horror of the Romanian public in reaction to this film. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was banned, even. Everything in this film is illegal: the black market cigarettes, the abortion itself, and the prostitution.
It was finally relieving to see Otilia sit at the hotel restaurant with Gabita, in relative silence. The silence is neither an awkward nor a tense one. The silence is more like a comma than a period, however: the abortion is over with, the fetus disposed of, but there are consequences to their illicit behaviors. And there is still the possibility that Otilia may be pregnant herself, based on the argument with her boyfriend. Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of the film was the amount of abortions that supposedly took place. Gabita received information on Bebe from a dormmate who got an abortion herself, and there are other multiple mentions of girls giving out similar information.
I can't say for sure whether I'm pro-life or not, but films like these certainly make the issue worth poring over. Debate, anyone?
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