4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Winner of the Palmes d’Or at Cannes in 2007, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is the story of a college girl, Otilia, helping her pregnant roommate Gabita get an illegal abortion in communist-era Romania. Written and directed by Christian Mungiu, the film is the opposite of Oscar-winner (best screenplay) Juno in almost every conceivable manner: where Juno is set in affluent sub-urban America, 4 Months... is set in a stark, poor Romanian city; where Juno uses smooth tracking and classic Hollywood editing, 4 Months... uses handheld camera and long takes; where Juno uses the same damn song over and over, 4 Months... uses almost no music at all. But the greatest polarity of the films is regarding the issue of abortion: where Juno glosses over it, 4 Months... demonstrates that in some place the option is not so casual. This isn’t meant as a criticism of Juno. In fact I lauded the maturity portrayed by Ellen Page’s eponymous character in that film, and in those terms 4 Months... plays opposite, again: the girl getting the abortion is child-like and needy. 4 Months... serves as a companion piece to Juno (and vice-versa) in that it makes a valid statement for the other side of the pro-life, pro-choice coin. What the film boils down to, is not the circumstances that justify abortion (it’s never mentioned in the film why the girl decides on it), but that choice is a luxury that some parts of the world take for granted. I'm not one to jump on bandwagons, but this is the best film I have seen all year.

Ugly - reality often is.

Directed by Cristian Mungiu