Product Description

The friendship between two girls is tested to its absolute limits in this utterly compelling drama set in the twilight years of Communist-era Romania. Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), young and naïve, is pregnant. She turns to her more pragmatic room mate Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) for help and a meeting is arranged in a downtown hotel with the shady Mr Bebe (Vlad Ivanov). Entering a dangerous and illegal underworld where the stakes are high and nothing is as it seems, the girls are set for a life-changing experience that neither will ever forget. Brilliantly observed, superbly performed and directed with quite astonishing flair, this tense, poignant and provocative film has been hailed as a modern masterpiece. Extras: Interviews with director Cristian Mungiu & actress Anamaria Marinca / Theatrical Trailer / Filmographies

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4188 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-26
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Romanian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Synopsis
This drama about a woman seeking an abortion in communist Romania picked up the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Review
'A masterpiece...outstanding" ***** --Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Review
'The first must-see movie of the year' ***** --The Times

Customer Reviews

the misunderstood masterpiece
This is not just the Romanian film on abortion.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is the story of two girls and their attempt to solve the problem of having an abortion in a totalitarian state where aborition was prohibited. The reason abortion was illegal, and people went to prison for attempting it, is because Ceausescu thought that Romania needed a bigger population because he gathered that a bigger population meant a more powerful state. Therefore, there was no contraception available and people had to make do with what they could.

Now, what 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days shows, in a shockingly honest way, is that humanity can endure even the most degrading and inhuman of situations. Ironically, what this film is about is survival. The girls simply need to get on with their lives and survive. And you, the viewer, will witness their every thought and emotion etched on their faces. You will witness their struggles and decision-making moments.

It's an inspiring piece, a visionary attempt. You cannot not be affected by watching it and hopefully, hopefully you will come out a better person for it.


Bogdan Tiganov - author of The Wooden Tongue Speaks- Romanians: Contradictions & Realities

Compelling, but grim
This is a superb piece of work: grittily realistic; moody, naturalistic filming; excellent, believable acting, but, it's more a documentary about the horrors of "back-street" abortions, that is unremitting in its grimness. All against the back-drop of the difficulties of dealing with life in the aftermath of a totalitarion state. The film Vera Drake comes to mind as a comparison and, as a film, I'd rate the latter higher as it had more variety of emotion and the characters were more rounded.

Best movie I've seen in a while
Very touching, full of realism and human feeling; the director had a good understanding of the era he's describing