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

Cristian Mungiu’s harrowing film is set in 1987 Romania toward the end of Nicolae Ceausescu’s tyrannical rule. 

The time in which the film is set is significant for several reasons, chiefly because it was Ceausescu, long before his Christmas Day execution in 1989, who reversed Romania’s stand on abortion, thus making the procedure illegal and punishable (with few exceptions) whereas beforehand, women had the right to choose.

Ceausescu criminalized abortion upon his ascension to power in 1966. Twenty-one years later in 1987, his corrupt dictatorship had turned Romania into a country of chaos, poverty and turmoil, so much so that Romania became a country of outlaws forced to turn to the black market to have their needs met.

There, cigarettes were a popular choice. So was finding someone who would perform an abortion.

It’s in this atmosphere of fear and risk that this outstanding film takes place, with roommates Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) and Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) seen preparing for Gabita’s abortion as the movie begins. Whereas Gabita is flighty and unfocused, Otilia is a force, balancing in one harrowing day Gabita’s sketchy abortion and the birthday party being thrown for her boyfriend’s mother across town.

The abortion comes first. Performed by Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov), a gruff man whose surname proves Mungiu isn’t without a dark sense of humor, Bebe is a brute who uses his power over the situation to his benefit.

He does so in ways that turn this drama into part tragedy and part thriller, particularly when he learns that Gabita lied to him about how far along she is in her pregnancy. There’s a price to be paid for that lie, and so Bebe becomes determined to exact a higher payment from each woman, though through means that have nothing to do with money.

Throughout this tense, superbly crafted movie, it’s as if a camera is nowhere near the actors--their performances are that good, that natural. Helping to that end is the dialogue, which seems unscripted. Every corner of this movie speaks to authenticity.

Grade: A