4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2008)
February 3rd, 2008
Romania and Cannes discover kitchen-sink realism. This Romanian film by Cristian Mungiu was awarded the Palm d’Or at Cannes for 2007.
Kitchen-sink realism is called that because not only does it include everything but the kitchen sink, it throws in the kitchen sink too. It’s a genre that comes and goes in film history. This is a fine example of kitchen-sink realism and a very good movie.
A young woman needs an abortion. Unfortunately she lives in Communist Romania in 1989, so she has to get it in the back street. She is Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), the dark-haired woman in the poster. Her blonde friend Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) is along to help her.
This is Otilia’s movie. She gets the money and the hotel room, meets the abortionist, juggles keys and ID cards, finds black-market Kents, placates her demanding boyfriend, and finally disposes of the fetus. And there is more, a lot more.
It’s a grim business, and it makes a compelling and honest film. I recommend it highly.
My only quibble is one where I know I’m getting to sound like a stuck record - it doesn’t have an ending. It just fades to black when the writer/director is tired of it, like the ending of No Country For Old Men and the long-running Sopranos TV series.
Endings are hard for writers. The ending has to wrap the work up somehow, so the reader or movie-goer feels like it didn’t just stop, but is over. And it has to do it without tying up all the loose ends in a fake little bow.
Shakespeare used to trot out a muse, or a god, or somebody, to make a farewell speech. And in opera and baseball, as everyone knows, a fat lady sings. You can’t get away with that kind of stuff any more, but I wish writers would understand that they have to do something more than just fade to black. That’s why they get the big writing bucks. They’re supposed to know their trade.
Juno has a real ending. All those other movie writers should study the ending of Juno. Me, I have no knack for endings at all, so I usually just say goodbye. Like this:
Bye for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this movie review. Come again!
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