Review of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) by Gabe C — 25 Jun 2007
Not exactly a comedy this one, although it does have moments of light heartedness.
Essentially Mr Lazarescu, an old man living in Bucharest, Romania starts to feel unwell and in the end calls an ambulance. What you see over the next 2.5 hours is Romanian health care in action.. or inaction.
To be fair if you look at the actual mistakes made and attitudes of the staff its not so hard to imagine this being filmed in the UK really.
The film can be summed up as 'tired doctors couldnt give a toss' and I think thats pretty universal really.
The actings all good, no special effects needed and in fact no special medical equipment needed as the romanians clearly have none.
Worth seeing if you're in the mood for a long, slow descent into eventual multiple organ failure.
Extras include an interview with an american 'doctor' who spends 11 minutes explaining why this story couldnt happen in the US. It comes across a bit too much as 'this is why you shouldnt travel abroad folks' forgetting to mention that at least Mr Lazarescu wasnt asked for his credit card details when he rang for the ambulance....
This review of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) was written by Gabe C on 25 Jun 2007.
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu has generally received very positive reviews.
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