4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days
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''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' () is a 2007 Romanian
art film An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
written and directed by Cristian Mungiu and starring Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, and Vlad Ivanov. The film is set in
Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...
in the final years of the Nicolae Ceaușescu era. It tells the story of two students, roommates in a university dormitory, who try to procure an illegal abortion. Inspired by an anecdote from the period and the general social historic context, it depicts the loyalty of the two friends and the struggles they face. Mungiu and cinematographer Oleg Mutu shot it in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
and other Romanian locations in 2006. After making its world premiere at Cannes, ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' made its Romanian debut on 1 June 2007, at the Transilvania International Film Festival. It opened to critical acclaim, and was noted for its
minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
and intense themes. The film won three awards at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, including the . It went on to win numerous honours, including Best Film at the
European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...
and Romania's national Gopo Awards. ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' became the subject of some controversy over censorship, the abortion debate, and its exclusion from the 80th Academy Awards, but in 2016 it was ranked No. 15 on the BBC's list of 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.


Plot

In 1987, two university students in an unnamed Romanian town, Otilia Mihărtescu and Gabriela "Găbița" Drăguț, are roommates in a dormitory. When Găbița becomes pregnant, the two young women arrange a meeting with Mr. Bebe in a hotel, where he is to perform an illegal abortion. At the college dorm, Găbița and Otilia review the items they need for the day. As Găbița nervously sits and waits, Otilia bargains and buys soap and cigarettes from the dormitory shop. Afterwards, Otilia takes a bus to visit her boyfriend Adi, from whom she borrows money. Adi asks Otilia to visit his family that night, as it is his mother's birthday. Otilia initially declines but relents after Adi becomes upset. Otilia heads to the Unirea hotel, where Găbița has booked a room, only to be informed by an unfriendly receptionist that there is no reservation under Găbița's last name. Otilia visits another hotel, the Tineretului, and after much begging and haggling, is able to book a room at an expensive rate. After speaking with Găbița on the telephone, Otilia goes to a rendezvous point to meet with Bebe, although he had asked Găbița to meet him personally. Mr. Bebe grows angry upon hearing that Găbița is not at the planned hotel. At the Tineretului, Bebe discovers that Găbița's claim that her pregnancy was in its second or third month was a lie, and that it has been at least four months. This changes the procedure and also adds the risk of a murder charge. While the two women were certain that they would pay no more than 3,000 lei for the abortion, it slowly becomes clear that Bebe expects both women to have sex with him. Desperate and distressed, Otilia has sex with Bebe, as does Găbița. Bebe then performs the abortion by injecting a probe and an unnamed fluid into Găbița's uterus and leaves Otilia instructions on how to dispose of the fetus when it comes out. Otilia is exasperated by Găbița's lies but continues to help and care for her. Otilia leaves Găbița at the Tineretului to attend Adi's mother's birthday party. She is still disturbed but stays and has dinner with Adi's mother's friends, who are mostly doctors. They converse about trivial matters while Otilia and Adi remain silent. After Otilia accepts a cigarette in front of Adi's parents, one of the guests starts talking about lost values and respect for elders. Adi and Otilia retreat to his room, where she tells him about Găbița's abortion. They begin debating what would happen if it were Otilia who was pregnant, as Adi is opposed to abortion. After the argument, Otilia calls Găbița from Adi's house. Găbița does not answer, so Otilia decides to return to the hotel. When Otilia enters the hotel room, Găbița is lying on the bed, and she tells Otilia that the fetus has been expelled and is in the bathroom. Otilia wraps the fetus with some towels and puts it in a bag, while Găbița asks her to bury it. Otilia walks outside, finally climbing to the top of a building, as Mr. Bebe had suggested, and drops the bag in a trash chute. She returns to the Tineretului and finds Găbița sitting in its restaurant. Otilia sits and tells Găbița that they are never going to talk about the episode again. Otilia stares blankly at Găbița.


Production


Historical background

Romanian Communist Party General Secretary Nicolae Ceaușescu enacted the abortion law Decree 770 in 1966 in order to increase the birth rates in the country. The procedure was permitted in only extremely limited circumstances. The law was not based on any religious opposition to abortion, but on the government's authority and control over its citizens. Academic Adriana Cordali Gradea further argued justifications for the decree rendered a view of women as second-class citizens, with no right to be heard. In the 1980s, the decree was strengthened to mandate gynecological appointments, to assess if individual women could reproduce. Author Dominique Nasta judged the film to be an accurate portrait of the oppression, and on the poor state of the economy of the Socialist Republic of Romania in the later days of Ceaușescu's regime. During the years of Decree 770, the only available abortion methods, all illegal, could prove fatal to women, causing thousands of deaths. According to Mungiu's notes he shared with the press, the death toll was 500,000. Gradea cited a conservative 10,000 estimate. Sanctions against contraception were also in place, and
sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...
was rare. Following the 1989 Revolution, abortion was made lawful, and subsequently unrestricted in the first 14 weeks.


Development

The initial idea for ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' was inspired by an anecdote from Communist Romania that director Cristian Mungiu had heard. Though he had heard it from a friend 15 years prior to the film, the incident occurred five years before that, in 1987, a date that Mungiu noted in the screenplay. Mungiu, himself a decrețel (born in the time of Decree 770), wanted to create a serious film focusing on the true story, which still affected him and felt tragic more than 15 years later. He conducted interviews with others who lived through the period, to determine if the experience was common. Aside from the anecdote, depicting the 1980s in Romania was appealing because he remembered the time, and "The attraction is for the stories that I know from that period. They belong to me. They belong to my generation". He hoped that basing the story on a factual account would also distinguish it from previous Romanian films: In setting out to write the screenplay, he intended the focus to be less on the abortion, and more on the time and its people. He said, "it's also a film about responsibilities and decision-making". As he continued writing, he stated pushing a political point was not so much a factor in editing, as he opted not to delete potential scenes if they felt credible, asking "Would this reasonably have happened, and does it make sense to the story to keep it?" Mungiu revised the screenplay numerous times during productions, creating 17 drafts. The major revision was the emergence of Otilia as the sole protagonist, while Găbița's part was reduced. In Mungiu's mind, Otilia had become determined to help Găbița because their shared life in the dormitory over four years would have created an emotional tie between them. The film was produced on a budget of under €600,000.


Casting

Casting took place during the autumn of 2006. Because of the extended takes, Mungiu sought actors who could remember large amounts of dialogue, and found that Vlad Ivanov was ideal for a 25-minute sequence. Mungiu viewed
audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...
s of many young women for the two protagonists. Anamaria Marinca had not worked with Mungiu before reading the screenplay, and found the story intriguing. She had performed on television, but had not appeared in a film before. On initially meeting Marinca, the director could not picture her in the lead role, but was won over when she began reading the first page of the screenplay. She had experience on stage, so the lengthy takes were agreeable to her. Laura Vasiliu also had stage experience.


Filming

Filming began in October 2006, with the objective to complete it by May, so that it could be entered into the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. After location scouting during the fall, most of the filming was done in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, with some scenes filmed in a hotel in
Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...
. Bucharest in 2006 was no longer how it would have appeared in 1987, due to new windows and other additions to the historic buildings. Production designer Mihaela Poenaru drew on her recollections of the period to prepare the locations. The Mr. Bebe character was also given a red
Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...
car. In several scenes, the indoor locations were so small that the camera had to be placed outside of the room. To highlight the emotional state of the characters, the film was shot in long
take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...
s,
close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...
s were avoided, and a score was not used. In Mungiu's mind, this would "keep a proper distance from the subject and be honest with the story". Cinematographer Oleg Mutu opted for a minimalist approach, lighting the backgrounds to display items common in 1987 while attempting not to distract from the characters too much. Mutu and Mungiu had previously developed a formula of lengthy takes and medium shots with the director's first feature film, ''
Occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of the term ''Orient'', referring to the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term occidental ...
''. With ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'', Mutu used an Arriflex 535. Mungiu found the dinner scene to be the most difficult to shoot, as including a large number of actors in a long take made it difficult to focus. It took 17 attempts over five days to complete the scene. In one scene, the aborted fetus is visible on screen for approximately 14 seconds, the length it took for the actors to deliver the dialogue, with Mungiu opting not to edit out the shot since it "was part of the story". The chute featured at the end of the film was constructed for the film, as there was not one at the location. The crew dropped bags of cabbage and potatoes to create the
sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...
. Due to Mungiu saying Romania did not use streetlights in 1987, Mutu considered other ways to light the final scenes, where the camera would move with Marinca for 200 metres. Mutu set up lights from building roofs for this sequence, employing a rod and
paper lantern A paper lantern is a lantern made of thin, brightly colored paper. Paper lanterns come in various shapes and sizes, as well as various methods of construction. In their simplest form, they are simply a paper bag with a candle placed inside, alt ...
s for the camera. A scene showing Găbița visiting her father (played by Costica Babu) was deleted for narrative purposes, given Otilia is the protagonist.


Themes and interpretations

Academic Judit Pieldner summed up the plot as "the story of a friendship facing a moral test". Scholar Florentina C. Andreescu opined the two female protagonists share emotional loyalty, while in the wake of Mr. Bebe's abuses, Otilia becomes increasingly suspicious of Adi. Professor László Strausz said that the film emphasises the ways that Romania's abortion laws inflicted humiliations on the protagonists, particularly between people of differing authority and sex. He argued that class and generational conflicts are presented in the dinner party scene, where the characters have more food than lower classes, discuss social issues such as conscription into the Romanian Armed Forces, and treat Otilia as representative of the "new generation" that does not appreciate what it has been given. Academic Claudiu Turcuș remarked that the dinner scene, where the characters look down on some careers and act as if smoking in front of one's elders is disrespectful, shows how regressive they are. Ovidius University author Ileana Jitaru credited the film for reconstructing "an entire communist class ideology which divided society into 'working class people' and 'intellectuals'". Jitaru specifically cited the dinner scene, where the conversation makes much of the divide between those with university degrees and those with none. The attendees boast about belonging to the middle class, and make denigrating comments about Otilia's rural origins. The term "communism" is never mentioned, the existence of Decree 770 is only implied, and president Nicolae Ceaușescu is never named. Despite this, communism is a major subject. Andreescu found that in many locations, one power is dominant; in some, the government, while in others, an underground power or Heterotopia forms. The hotel room where the abortion is performed becomes a location outside of the government's supervision. Mr. Bebe exploits this, boasts of the worth of his expertise and notes the risk he is taking, in order to extort the women for sex. Turcuș instead interpreted the scene as Mr. Bebe presenting himself as the "new man", sharing the women's legal peril and an openness to sexuality, while in fact being "the communist brute". ''
Jump Cut A jump cut is a cut (transition), cut in film editing that breaks a single continuous sequential shot of a subject into two parts, with a piece of footage removed to create the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positioning on the subjec ...
'' writer Constantin Parvulescu stated "''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' provides an astute balance of ostalgia and anti-communist memorial". Parvulescu elaborated that the beginning gives a view of place and possessions that could be nostalgic, but these become overruled by crisis in the communist society. Essayist Adriana Cordali Gradea suggested that silence is a theme of the film, and that citizens of communist nations would use silence to endure and resist. This is seen at the end, where Otilia forbids further discussion of the abortion. The lack of a score can also be seen as contributing to a sense of pending danger. The fact that the characters live in poverty is reflected in a scene where Mr. Bebe accosts his mother for wanting to buy sugar. When Otilia is searching for Mr. Bebe, there is also a line of people visible in the background queuing for food, reflecting the lack of food security in the 1980s. Additionally, the characters are often impolite towards each other. Mungiu explained that this was related to the poverty, saying "You need people in a society to have reached a certain standard of living before they can be polite". The bartering scenes reflect how corporate goods common west of the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...
were prohibited in Romania and were viewed as luxuries. The dinner scene is reminiscent of the
Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...
. Author Doru Pop acknowledged the differing number of characters and no male Jesus, but asserted that it is relevant to have a dinner while a tragedy is unfolding. Mungiu conceded that such similarities were accidental, and that once he appreciated the potential analogy during production, the filmmakers added a more focused view of Otilia to reveal her stress.


Style

Scholar Dominique Nasta saw the style as a " minimalist, 'less is more' line".
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
writer Ben Walters judged it "simple and rigorous, with scenes composed of only one or two shots". Walters remarked on "handheld, mobile, almost literally breathtaking" shots, and on the impact of still scenes. Despite the handheld camera, Mungiu said the crew developed a style where shots were taken so the action is followed but the camera's movements would not be overly obvious to the audience. Journalist Brian Gibson assessed the photography as "patient, alert, dogged in its observation of Otilia's endeavours". Surveying the photography, academic Ileana Jitaru found "simple, austere and realistic compositions in which the black humour is a stylistic means of anchoring the theme(s)". Jitaru also commented on the colour scheme, observing "cold desaturated colours", particularly greys, blues and greens in the beginning. Additionally, the story, set during a single day, is related by real time narrative in its scenes, although minutes or hours may separate the events in separate scenes. According to Mungiu, the real time was meant to achieve a sense of continuity true to life. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''s Peter Bradshaw interpreted the style as "a nightmare of social-realist suspense". ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' critic Jonathan Romney characterized it as "claustrophobic" in parts and an "intense realist exercise". Despite this, he also believed that the hotel scenes communicate "a sense of almost supernatural horror", and asks of the noise heard after Mr. Bebe chastises his mother: "A backfire? A gunshot? Who can tell? But it lends the scene its bizarre, oppressive air of ill omen". Critic Peter Debruge declared the style "the antithesis of your well-lit, elegantly shot Hollywood movies – or the locally made films of Mungiu's childhood". Journalist Steven Boone said that while the film was well reviewed for "its bracing drabness, its ugliness, its lack of style", he believed it was "beautiful and stylized", because "it is ''alive'' and piercingly present-tense". He compared it with the films of the Dardenne brothers. Mungiu said he aimed to begin scenes, including the first, without giving the audience background information and letting viewers discern what was happening. Journalist Lauren Wissot judged the story "a suspense thriller", comparable to the work of
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
. She felt "heat" in each frame, writing "we're waiting for the bomb— the constant threat of imprisonment or death that defined life under Nicolae Ceaucescu". Aside from reflecting the length of the fictional pregnancy, the 4-3-2 form of the title creates the impression of rushed countdown reinforcing the thriller genre aspects, Gradea wrote. Responding to analogies to the Dardennes' style, Mungiu said in 2008 that he had only seen their '' La Promesse'' (1996) but was now interested in seeing more, and that he had asked the brothers to attend a showing of his film. Mungiu compared his style more to those of
Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech Americans, Czech-American film film director, director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the Uni ...
and
Jiří Menzel Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films ...
, though he said he was influenced more by certain films than by a director's general filmography.


Release

The film debuted on the first day of the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
in May 2007. At Cannes, IFC Films purchased distribution rights for the United States. After the festival, distribution rights for 60 countries had been sold. In September 2007, it competed at the
San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...
. That month, it also screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. In its own country, it debuted at the Transilvania International Film Festival in June 2007, where it attracted long queues. With only 50 theatres in Romania, and the lowest rates of theatre attendance in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, a crew on a caravan toured 15 towns without theatres over 30 days for screenings that year. At
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, Mungiu was happy to see that Romanian viewers could comprehend the
dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
. Filmmaker Sorin Avram documented the caravan tour through Focșani, Petroșani,
Călărași Călărași (), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about from the Bulgarian border and from Bucharest. It is one of six Romanian county se ...
and other communities, and interviewed some of the audience of 17,584 people, who described it as shocking and disturbing. Although the film won the Cinema Prize of the French National Education System at Cannes, protests by the anti-abortion movement led French Education Minister Xavier Darcos to consider banning it from French high schools. This raised concerns among French film industry workers about
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
. Consequently, the proposed ban was dropped in July 2007, and an educational DVD using the film was made available for ages 15 and up. Television stations and an airline also wished to censor the fetus shot. In June 2008, the film was released on DVD in Region 1 by Genius Products in the U.S. and by Mongrel Media in Canada, featuring interviews with the filmmakers and Sorin Avram's documentary ''1 Month with 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days''. In Region 2, Artificial Eye published a 2008 DVD with the interviews and Avram's documentary. In Region A,
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
released a Blu-ray in 2019.


Reception


Box office

In 2007 in Romania, there were 89,000 admissions for ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'', making it the seventh most attended film in the country that year, and the most attended Romanian film. By 11 November 2007, it had over 300,000 admissions in France. By 8 September 2008, IFC Films reported a solid financial performance for ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' in the U.S., with a gross of $1.2 million. The film completed its run in May 2008. It made $1,198,208 in the United States and Canada, and $8,642,130 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $9,840,338.


Critical reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has a 96% approval rating based on 139 reviews and an average rating of 8.35/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Featuring gut-wrenching performances from Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu, ''4 Months'' is a gripping portrayal of life in Communist Romania". The film also holds a 97% rating on
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
based on 37 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim"; while numerous critics placed it in their top 10 films of 2007 or 2008.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
awarded it four stars, commenting on the stupidity of the character Găbița and contrasting her to the title character of that year's '' Juno'', but hailing the film as "a powerful film and a stark visual accomplishment". ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
and Mary Corliss described it as a "gripping, satisfying film" and particularly noted the use of minimalism and "formal rigor" as defining aesthetic characteristics. Jay Weissberg from '' Variety'' magazine said that the film was "pitch perfect and brilliantly acted... a stunning achievement". He added that the film shares a number of characteristics with other productions of the New Romanian Cinema, namely: "long takes, controlled camera and an astonishing ear for natural dialogue". For ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Manohla Dargis championed the direction, cinematography and lengthy takes. Peter Bradshaw remarked on the sharpness of Otilia and the apparent naiveté of Găbița, but considered this is how their crisis could have affected them, and praised the film as "a masterpiece of intimate desperation". In ''
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'', Damon Wise gave it five stars, positively reviewing the cinematography, colour scheme, and the depiction of the black-market terror created when something is outlawed. ''The Independent''s Jonathan Romney named it a "masterpiece", acknowledging the description "Romanian abortion drama" would be off-putting for some viewers but defending it as "harrowing". Writing for ''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
'', Thomas Sotinel called the film excellent and cited Marinca for an intense performance. Jean-Baptiste Morain of '' Les Inrockuptibles'' remarked on the film's powerful emotions, and credited Mungiu with managing to do much with little. Some sources view the film as indicative of a broader renaissance in Romanian cinema in the 2000s, particularly in light of other successful Romanian films. These include Cristi Puiu's '' The Death of Mr. Lazarescu'', which won the '' Prix un certain regard'' at the
2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Belgian filmmakers D ...
; Corneliu Porumboiu's '' 12:08 East of Bucharest'', which won the '' Camera d'Or'' at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival; and Cristian Nemescu's '' California Dreamin''', which won the ''Prix un certain regard'' at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. In 2009, ''The Guardian'' ranked it seventh in its "Best films of the noughties" list, surveying the past decade. ''The New York Times'' critic A.O. Scott also put the film seventh on his best of the decade list. In 2015, ''The Guardian''s Benjamin Lee identified it as his favourite film to win the , praising it as a success as a modern thriller. Writing in his '' 2015 Movie Guide'',
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
rated it three and a half stars, and called it "forceful" with a "matter-of-fact tone". In a 2016 worldwide critics' poll conducted by
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, it was ranked 15th in the 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.


Abortion debate

On its international release, the film became partially viewed through the lens of the abortion debate, with Emma Wilson writing in ''
Film Quarterly ''Film Quarterly'' (FQ), published by University of California Press, is a journal devoted to the study of film, television, and visual media. When FQ was launched in 1945 (then called ''Hollywood Quarterly''), it was considered "the first serious ...
'' that
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user reviews were highlighting this and comparing it to '' Juno''. Wilson observed ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' displayed the aborted fetus, comparable to the U.S. anti-abortion movement's use of such images, but argued the film was closer to
pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...
ideology in its focus on the law's harm to women. Wilson further argued that the true point was the loyalty of the two characters. Mungiu said the fetus shot was not linked to the
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...
movement, as Romanians did not commonly use these depictions and the abortion debate was no longer prominent there. Anti-abortion protests comparable to those in the U.S. or
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did not occur in Romania until 2005, when the Orthodox Church commented on the matter. Mungiu also declined to state his position on abortion, and said he attempted to keep his film and his personal position separate. Scholars Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy and Oana Popescu-Sandu argued the film was simply about communism, and the minimalism allowed for foreign audiences to see what they wanted, including a statement on the abortion debate. In the Canadian feminist magazine '' Herizons'', reviewer Maureen Medved judged ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' to approximate a
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
in depicting the abuses that women suffer when abortion is illegal. In anticipation of the
2008 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John Mc ...
, ''Time'' critics Mary and Richard Corliss also cited the film to discourage electing a candidate opposed to '' Roe v. Wade'', saying the film revealed potential negative consequences. In '' The Australian Feminist Law Journal'', Fiona Jenkins interpreted the story as a morally ambiguous argument that safe abortion services should be allowed, but that Otilia telling Găbița they will never talk about the matter reflects her "trauma not only of what she has undergone but what she has done". Peter T. Chattaway, writing for ''
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'', opined that "The abortion itself is handled in a way that could be seen to support both sides of the abortion debate", given the abuse to women, but also the portrayal of "the procedure's bloody aftermath". Writer Waltraud Maierhofer also interpreted it as "not simply for or against abortion". Maierhofer commented a woman will consider many things in making a choice, including health, finances and what the potential child would face. In a discussion with Adi, Otilia indicates she would not be ready to enter a marriage and raise a family. Găbița's reasons are never said; it can be presumed she made the decision herself, though Maierhofer wrote at times she appears "irresponsible".


Accolades

At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, Cristian Mungiu became the first Romanian filmmaker to win the , the festival's highest honour. Later, it became the first Romanian work to receive the European Film Award for Best Film. In its home country, it was nominated for 15 Gopo Awards and won nine, including Best Film. Despite competing for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
, ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' was not shortlisted, creating controversy among critics and online film fans, as it had won the . The controversy caused an
Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
member to pledge nomination reform, though the category had often sparked criticism. Mungiu later said the omission and subsequent furor brought the picture substantial publicity, and that the experience taught him that critics and festival juries have differing tastes from the Academy.


Legacy

Following the Academy Award controversy, the Academy reformed its methodology of choosing Best Foreign Language Film nominees, allowing a committee of approximately 20 members to name three favourite candidates, balancing out a shortlist composed by a second committee made up of hundreds of voters. Steven Zeitchik of the ''
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'' remarked the nominees of 2011 reflected the change, displaying unorthodox and challenging subject matter such as youth violence ('' In a Better World''), incest by rape ('' Incendies'') and particularly torture ('' Dogtooth''). In 2013, '' The Wrap'' named Mungiu "The Man Who Changed Oscar's Rules". Mungiu reportedly planned ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' to be the first in a loose series of films titled "Tales from a Golden Age". Mungiu explained that "the golden age of Romania" is a term used nationally for Ceaușescu's final nine years in power, though he said people then suffered "shortages and hardship". He intended to make six
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
s under the banner "Tales from the Golden Age", and then allow younger directors to take over the series. In 2009, he released a single film called ''
Tales from the Golden Age ''Tales from the Golden Age'' () is a 2009 Romanian Anthology film, omnibus film. It was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The film is composed of six whimsical, yet blackly comic short stories, ...
'', following ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' in depicting the Ceaușescu era and starring Vlad Ivanov. His next film, '' Beyond the Hills'' (2012), similarly depicted Romanian extremism, and Mungiu was inspired to make the cinematic adaptation after seeing the stage version in New York while promoting ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days''. The 2020 film '' Never Rarely Sometimes Always'' was partly inspired by ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days''.


Notes


See also

* List of Romanian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film * List of submissions to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film


References


Bibliography

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External links

* * * *
''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days: Late Term''
an essay by Ella Taylor at the
Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:4 Months, 3 Weeks, And 2 Days 2007 films Abortion in Romania Films about abortion Films critical of communism Films directed by Cristian Mungiu Films set in 1987 Films set in Romania Films shot in Bucharest European Film Awards winners (films) 2000s Romanian-language films Romanian drama films Romanian independent films Palme d'Or winners 2000s political drama films 2007 drama films 2007 independent films