{"id":1813,"date":"2008-05-29T02:30:57","date_gmt":"2008-05-29T01:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=1813"},"modified":"2008-05-29T03:12:15","modified_gmt":"2008-05-29T02:12:15","slug":"dvd-pick-4-months-3-weeks-and-2-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2008\/05\/29\/dvd-pick-4-months-3-weeks-and-2-days\/","title":{"rendered":"DVD Pick: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of the most startling and accomplished films to come out in the last year was 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

This Romanian drama set in 1987 about a woman trying to get an illegal abortion scooped the Palme D\u2019Or at Cannes last year<\/a> and it was a surprising but worthy winner.<\/p>\n

Although the subject matter might put some viewers off it is a truly remarkable film from director Cristian Mungiu<\/a> that deserves a wider audience than just the arthouse circuit.<\/p>\n

The achievement here is that it takes what appears to be a simple situation (the difficulty of abortion in Communist Romania<\/a>) and manages to wring out the intense human emotions and drama that lie below.<\/p>\n

From the young woman who is pregnant (Laura Vasiliu<\/a>), her loyal friend (Anamaria Marinca<\/a>) who helps her and the abortionist (Vlad Ivanov<\/a>) who performs the operation, all are complicit in a highly dangerous situation.<\/p>\n

What elevates it above many contemporary dramas is raw power of the narrative, the terrific lead performances from Marinca and Vasiliu and the clever cinematography from Oleg Mutu<\/a> that utilises long takes that draws us deeper into the characters lives.<\/p>\n

Although it is only his second film, director Mungiu has scored a major achievement and created a film that explores the terrible dilemas facing people in a particularly dark corner of Europe’s recent past.<\/p>\n

Artificial Eye have done an excellent job with the extras, most of them interesting and insightful.<\/p>\n

They include:<\/p>\n