Review of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) by Cyber P — 06 Jun 2010

The Romanian winner of the 2007 Palm d'Or is a powerful reflection on the consequences of abortion. Full review below (contains spoilers!):

I love to come across films that give you a realistic insight into a culture you know very little about (in this case, communist Romania) and manage to, at the same time, treat a highly controversial subject in an accurate, unpretentious way.

I used to be in favor of abortion, because the idea (at least on paper) of sparing an unborn soul all the misery and chaos in the world sounded good to me. But after watching this simple story about two desperate girls who try to get an illegal abortion, my perspective changed entirely.

The filmâ??s tone is anything but preaching; what we have is a clear, astonishingly realistic depiction on both the physical and psychological consequences of going through with an abortion. Technically, the film is done with supreme craft, considering how minimalistic it might look. The performances truly convey the confusion and sadness of the central characters, while the closing message might have the visual power to alter the audienceâ??s beliefs about yet another dilemma modern human society has produced.