Movie Review: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2008)

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a Romanian movie directed by Cristian Mungiu, that takes place in 1987 communist Romania. It took me a while to get to that movie because I knew it was going to be emotionally gut-wrenching, and it was…

The film is the story of Gabriela (Laura Vasilu), who is trying to go through a clandestine abortion with the help of her friend Otilia (Anamaria Marinca). More than anything, this is the story of a friendship. Gabriela is naive, clueless and weak while Otilia is a strong and witty woman, who is constantly working to get the process moving. The movie starts as they are getting ready to meet an abortionist called Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) and it is not long after they meet him that we realize the nightmare the two young women are in and how far Otilia will have to go to help her pregnant friend get that abortion. Let’s just say Bebe is a major scumbag who takes advantage of the desperate situation the women are in…

The performances from the cast was terrific. Anamaria Marinca was simply breathtakingly as Otilia. You can see the innocence on her face vanish away after having met Bebe. Even though Gabriela lied to her and ultimately got her into that nightmare, she continues to help and care for her. She is stepping up for her friend but would anyone do that for her? Vlad Ivanov was an extremely intriguing character, constantly paternilizing the young women but being a scumbag of the lowest level at the same time.

Direction Cristian Mungiu created an amazing atmosphere of desperation, horror, squalor, and oppression. The movie was shot in a peculiar way with some scenes filmed with handheld cameras which gave the movie a documentary feel. Most of the scenes of the movie were filmed as one cut, from beginning to end unlike your usual Hollywood movies where the camera cuts every few seconds