4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

The winner of the Palm D'Or at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days is one of the more celebrated European films this year, and was then spectacularly snubbed by the Motion Picture Academy in their annual and bewildering process of selecting five films that are not in English to vie for an award. After having seen the film, which is a gritty, breathtakingly suspenseful human drama, it's easy to see why it was snubbed. This film has the kind of kitchen-sink realism that Hollywood doesn't really want to acknowledge. This film really makes you understand what life behind the Iron Curtain was like, and what inhabitant of Beverly Hills wants to know that?

The story is, at its most simple, about a young woman obtaining an abortion. It is 1987 in Romania, in the last years of the brutal Ceaucescu regime, and abortion is illegal. But though abortion is at its center, what the film is really about is life in a totalitarian system. The two college girls in this drama, Gabita, who needs the abortion, and Ottilia, a devoted friend, live their lives in a kind of shadow. At each turn there is something illicit going on, whether it is buying cigarettes on the black market or dealing with surly hotel clerks (clearly Romania did not have a "service" economy). The interiors are lit with the kind of ghastly flourescent illumination that makes the characters look sallow and undernourished. In its own mundane way, the film is a searing indictment of totalitarianism.

The film also works as tense psychological drama. Ottilia (brilliant played by Anamaria Marinca) is doing all the legwork in arranging the abortion, as Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) seems incapable of handling the situation. They have hired a Mr. Bebe, who is played by Vlad Ivanov with the perfect menace of the banality of evil. He looks pleasant enough, but his every word and action are underscored with ugliness. He isn't interested so much in money as he is having power over two young attractive women, and when they realize they have no choice, he exercises that power. There is a heart-rending moment when Ottilia scrubs herself clean of the vile man in a bathtub.

At the same time, Ottilia is dealing with her boyfriend, who insists on her attending his mother's birthday party. This necessitates her leaving Gabita behind in a potentially dangerous situation. In a very powerful scene, shot by director Cristian Mungiu in one long take, she endures the happy chatter of a party, even quietly absorbing silent insults, while she worries about her friend. The following scene, in which Ottilia reveals the truth to her boyfriend and wonders what he would do in the same situation, is terrifically written and acted.

This is not an easy film to watch, and I suppose it could be a political football in the U.S., given the highly-charged nature of the abortion debate. I think it speaks to the fact that there are certain elements of life that can not be legislated into oblivion, and that forcing things that deal with public health into the shadows can result in needless physical harm. However, someone with a different viewpoint may see this film as a depiction of the horrors of abortion. Either way, it is a magnificent achievement.