Review of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) by Bill H — 26 Sep 2008

How come Borders gets exclusive rights to sell this movie? Snobby bastitches cheating the average filmgoer out of watching a potentially brilliant and thought-provoking film.

>:(.

Well, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days isn't for everybody. Many could argue that it's a slow-paced film taking a simple subject and stretching it out unnecessarily. In a nutshell, it's a film about a woman Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) helping her clueless roomie Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) go through an illegal abortion over the course of one day. On a grand scale, it's a film about people making hasty or desperate decisions under communist rule. Someone remarked that it's also a film about consequences of actions; the actions aren't shown explicitly on-screen, but we do see the aftermath, most of which tend to show discomfort, trauma, or degradation. Otilia is the sole character that carries this huge amount of weight on her back that she always considers the alternative of what may happen. She's willing to compromise her life or even goals just to help her friend, although by the end I'm not sure if she'd dare remain a friend/roommate to Gabita.

It may appear that Anamaria Marinca has very little to work with, but considering how much her character went through, she pulls off that victimization and inner-struggle very well. Quite certainly one of the best, if not, the best, showcase of acting this decade has seen yet. Let's not dismiss Laura Vasiliu, who pulls off that inane helpless role that'd make you wanna strangle her character if given the chance. Vlad Ivanov is the vicious Mr. Bebe who performs the procedure... vicious fucker, he is, 'nuff said. And lastly, there's Otilia's boyfriend Adi, played by Alexandru Potocean, who is always insistent and thinking too much of himself; always the problem of relationships.

Anyway, the film's events are shown as absolute, so many viewers could offer differing interpretations. Many scenes continue for quite a lengthy period without any cuts or camera movement, but the director captures fixated moments to provoke a certain feeling each character may feel. Raw and gritty, and what's more is that there's no soundtrack to boot. Everything is driven by silence, dialogue, or movement. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is more than just a film about abortions nor taking any sides on the issue. It's a film about how choices can be unpleasant, but it does lead to revealing something about you, or those around you.