4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Writers: Cristian Mungiu, Razvan Radulescu
Stars: Anamaria Marinca, Vlad Ivanov, Laura Vasiliu
Runtime: 113 minutes
Plot: A woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
Review: This notion of oppression is evident right at the start of Mungiu's film, where students Gabita (Vasiliu) and Otilia (Marinca) are planning a trip. The purpose is not made immediately clear, but it's obvious from the cloak-and-dagger talk that this isn't just a regular holiday. As she visits friends in her halls of residence, getting supplies, Otilia may as well be in post-war Britain, where even a packet of Tic-Tacs has black market currency.
By now Gabita's situation is clear. She's pregnant (hence the title), she doesn't want to keep the child, and under Ceausescu, abortion is illegal for women under 40 who haven't had four or more children already. And this is where Mungiu's film becomes more than just a page of Romanian history; it's a chilling reminder of the trade that flourishes where anything is criminalised.
There are no fancy shots, no effects, no quick cuts, and Mungiu and his cinematographer, Oleg Mutu, adhere to a rule of one shot per scene. That makes camera placement and movement crucial, and suggests that every shot has been carefully prepared. Even shots where the ostensible subject of the action is half-visible, or not seen at all, serve a purpose, by insisting on the context and the frame. Visuals are everything here; the film has no music, only words or silences.
The movie is a brilliant depiction of how life was like during the rule of Ceausescu in the 1980's, so much so that it won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Reviewed by Intisab Shahriyar
Comments