After seeing Vera Drake a couple of years ago I was hardly clamoring to see another abortion film, well made or not, the subject just doesn’t interest me. At least not as a storytelling device. However, the Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days had received so much praise, including the Cannes Film Festival top prize, there was no way I could skip it. Unfortunately, the fact that this film is so well made just makes it that much more unwatchable. I am baffled at what kind of mind it takes to sit back and find enjoyment in a film like this. Let me explain.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is set in 1987, the final days of communism in Romania, and we follow two college roommates as they set out on a mission to get one of them an illegal abortion. The story is told through long tracking shots, oftentimes using a stationary camera position never dependent on the action taking place in the scene as writer/director Cristian Mungiu understands the words of his story, and the absence of action, can be just as powerful unseen. However, that doesn’t deter him from showing you the gruesome details.
This is a film that actually does grab hold of you and almost delivers a claustrophobic feeling. You feel as if you are on this journey with these two girls. The film is told through the eyes of Otilia (Anamaria Marinca), the roommate helping her friend Gabita (Laura Vasiliu). You feel as if you are an unseen third party along for the ride. There are moments where you dare not look at what is just out of view and then there are moments the camera pans to see what is unseen just to satiate your unwilling curiosity. It’s a case of you don’t want to look, but you feel you have to, and once you do you just can’t look away. It is truly mesmerizing storytelling, but the gut-wrenching nature of it all does not leave you with a good feeling in the pit of your stomach.
The power of the film definitely is due in most part to Mungiu’s direction and understanding of the story he is telling, but both Marinca and Vasiliu turn in performances worthy of praise, especially Marinca as the film lives and dies with her performance. Whether she is clumsily fumbling with things better left not mentioned, running through the streets in a panic or simply sipping mineral water, each scene she is in is captivating and all you can do is watch.
The unfortunate position 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days puts me in is that with all the good things I have said, I can honestly tell you I did not like this movie. I would never recommend any one see it. There is absolutely nothing to gain from seeing this film unless you are looking for a lesson in how to become a masterful director. Mungiu deserves an Oscar nomination for his work with this film and I also think Marinca deserves an Oscar nomination long before Marion Cotillard from La Vie En Rose, but nevertheless I did not like this film.
Considering this movie is 100-percent effective and nearly flawless in execution does that mean it deserves an “A+”? Or, since I did not like it does that mean it deserves an “F”? Unfortunately those are the only two options I can consider because a “B” is not right, there is no middle ground. This is a perfectly executed film that I would never want to watch and never recommend anyone else watch.
I can only hope people read this review and look beyond the grade alone, because to give this film an “F” would be an insult, the talent behind it deserves better than that.
