Death of Mr. Lazarescu

****1/2

The Romanian film "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" is a 147-minute fictional drama that plays out almost entirely in what documentary filmmakers like to refer to as "real time." Lazarescu is a 62-year-old widower who lives with his three beloved cats in a rundown apartment in Bucharest. Even though he had an operation for a stomach ulcer 14 years earlier, Lazarescu still drinks excessively, perhaps as a means of assuaging his loneliness or perhaps because he is simply an alcoholic. As the movie begins, Lazarescu is suffering from a severe headache, stomach pains and vomiting, so he calls for an ambulance to come and take him to the hospital. The movie is a slice-of-life chronicle of that trip.

This is all the "story" director Cristi Puiu provides us with as we see Lazarescu being shuffled from one hospital and emergency room to another by a compassionate middle-aged paramedic named Mioara. Puiu clearly has some sharp things to say about the care - or in some cases, LACK of care - Lazarescu receives at the hands of a medical system that is overstretched and undermanned, filled with doctors who are often petty and ill-tempered towards not only their patients but even the paramedics whom the doctors perceive as being clearly "beneath" them in training and knowledge (the irony is that Mioara is more accurate in her diagnosis of the patient than a number of the doctors who examine him). However, Puiu also shows us doctors and nurses who perform their jobs admirably and treat the ill with kindness. Actually, the best thing about "The Death of Lazarescu" is that it observes without judgment. We really feel as if we are seeing life unfolding in front of us without so much as a trace of phoniness, melodramatics or theatricality to dilute the vision. The scenes come off as totally spontaneous and unscripted, as the director (along with co-writer Razvan Radulescu) chronicles the lives of these various people whose paths just happen to cross on this one hectic Saturday night in Bucharest. With the use of a handheld camera to record the action, Puiu makes us feel as if we ourselves are along for the ride, being afforded this rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into not only this medical drama but the countless little truths about human behavior Puiu reveals along the way.

The film would not be the tremendous success it is were it not for the extraordinary performances from each and every member of its amazing cast, from Ion Fiscuteanu as Lazarescu to Luminta Gheorghiu as the paramedic, to all the various men and women who appear on screen as neighbors, doctors, nurses, drivers, technicians etc. Their performances are all so unmannered and lifelike that you would swear you were watching a documentary feature rather than a fictional narrative. Fiscuteanu, in particular, delivers a tour-de-force turn here as a man fighting not only the ravages of illness and pain, but the indignities that come along with being passively bandied about among various doctors and hospitals and being subjected to withering comments from medical personnel resentful of having to "fix" someone whose problems all seemingly stem from alcoholism (this attitude actually leads to a careless misdiagnosis on the part of one of the doctors).

The film clearly doesn`t sugarcoat reality but neither does it make it appear worse than it actually is, which is often the case with movies that try to capture life "in the raw" as it were. "The Death of Lazarescu" manages to capture life's rawness without resorting to the kind of excessive narcissism or hyperbole that lesser artists would have used.

And that is the triumph of "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu." It draws us so deeply into its world and makes us so familiar with the people who inhabit it that we don't really feel as if we are watching a movie at all. Rarely have 147 minutes passed so quickly.

Poor Mr. Lazarescu. His head has been aching all day, he's been vomitting and yet no one will help him. He's called the ambulance twice, and it has taken forever for it to arrive. He's even visited his neighbors to ask them if they have any painkillers, but, they seem a little annoyed. Not to mention his brother-in-law is hounding him about money he owes him.

This is pretty much the set-up to Cristi Puiu's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu". And the title gives away the ending, so, we are only left with the middle.

"The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" is one of the first, if not the first Romanian film to receive huge international fame and actually be released in America in recent times.

Ever since the fall of Communism in Romania the country has struggled trying to find its voice. Strickly speaking about their films (we won't even dwell in their politics) they seem to be drawn towards dark, cynical comedies that they think will appeal to western audience (namely Americans). But, Romanian humor is hard for Americans to digest. Most people do not understand our Eastern European humor. Because of this these films have either, not been released in this country or have not gained much cross-over audience appeal.

The solution, of course, is easy. Romanians have to make films that are personal to them, not worry about what will appeal to Westerns. Now that Communism is over, why not make films dealing with life under its rule? Romanians could make human drama dealing with people and how life has changed since Communism's fall. Some films have attempted to do this, but with that dark humor. If Americans are familiar with Romanian films, there is a pretty good chance it is through the films of Lucian Pintilie and "The Oak", which dealt with the very subject of old world Romania meeting new world Romania.

What all of this has to do with this film is "Lazarescu" is at least addressing a "Romanian" problem, but, it has universal appeal. See, if you stick to what you know, others will not only follow, but relate.

The film has a pretty unusually style that American audiences might have a hard time getting adjusted to. The movie was shot primarily with a hand held camera. Why? One could say, well, it's because Romanians have no money and this is the cheapest way to make a film. I'm not sure that's the real reason. I think Puiu wanted the film to be shot this way because he wanted us to feel we are watching a documentary. We are suppose to think of this in terms of being real. Situations such as this really do happen all over the world.

Much of the dialogue is terribly cynical. I didn't find the dialogue particularly funny, but, the situations were humorous. At time I started to wonder though, can it really be true? Can this really be the way doctors talk to their patients?

So much of the film feels true. We are really going along on this man's journey as hospital after hospital refuses to keep the man and find out exactly what is wrong with him.

I think the film also goes beyond just being a satire of Romania's health care system. It is also an attack on bureaucracy. The red tape government officials make us go through.

Director Cristi Puiu says this will be the first of a series of films he plans on calling "stories from suburbs of Bucharest". There will be six in total as Puiu says he was inspired by Eric Rohmer's "six moral tales". In his own words he says the film is about man's regard towards his fellow man. Hopefully with the success of this film, which has won awards at various international film festivals including; Cannes, Norwegian, Transilvania, Independent Spirit Awards and in Chicago, we will see the five other stories in the series.

Bottom-line: Very dark and cynical look not just at Romania's health care system but also a satire on bureaucracy. Director Puiu's debut film carries a nice pace to it by managing to really engage the audience due to the simplicity of the story and the human involvement the actors bring to their roles.

The movie is a powerful, insightful description of the corrupt health system in the today ex-comunist

Romania. Sometimes tragic-comic, bitter and accurate, sad and funny, the movie brings a realisticly rude

picture of the faulty medical care in the Romanian hospitals. The director captured perfectly the atmosphere

in the ER, ambulances and the encounter with the medical staff. Excelently acted!

***** rate.

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