4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Cristian Mungiu Cristian Mungiu

Overview

"Director Cristian Mungiu's drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days unfolds in Romania in the late '80s, during the last waning days of Communist rule. Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu play, respectively, Otilia and Gabita, two female friends and students who share a Bucharest flat. They soon find themselves saddled with an overwhelming problem: Gabita is expecting. With abortion illegal in Romania at that time, the women seek an illicit termination at the hands of one Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) in a seedy Romanian hotel -- but Bebe refuses to accept money in return for his services and demands a certain ""alternate"" commodity instead."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/22/2019
UPC:	0715515224918
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	4,393

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Cristian Mungiu, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack; New interview with Mungiu; New interview with film critic Jay Weissberg on the New Romanian Cinema; The Romanian Tour, a short documentary from 2007 on the film's reception in Romania; Press comference from the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, featurning Mungiu; director of photography Oleg Mutu; and actors Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, and Alexandru Potocean; Alternate and deleted scenes; Trailer; New English subtitle translantion

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Anamaria Marinca	Otilia
Laura Vasiliu	Gabita
Vlad Ivanov	Mr. Bebe
Alex Protcean	Actor
Luminita Gheorghiu	Adi's Mother Gina
Adi Carauleanu	Adi's Father Grigore
Liliana Mocanu	Actor
Tania Popa	Actor
Cerasela Iosifescu	Actor
Doru Ana	Actor
Eugenia Bosanceanu	Actor
Ioan Sabdaru	Actor
Cristina Buburuz	Actor
Marioara Sterian	Actor
Emil Coseru	Actor
Georgeta Paduraru Burdujan	Actor
Geo Dobre	Actor
Mihaela Alexandru	Actor
Costica Babu	Actor
Constantin Bojog	Actor
Sanziana Tarta	Actor
Catalina Harabagiu	Actor
Alexandru Potocean	Adi
Teodor Corban	Actor
Laura Vasilu	Actor

Technical Credits

Cristian Mungiu

Cristian Mungiu	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Florentina Onea	Executive Producer
Oleg Mutu	Producer
Catalin Dordea	Casting
Dana Bunescu	Sound/Sound Designer
Titi Fleancu	Sound/Sound Designer
Cristinel Sirli	Sound Mixer
Cristian Tarnovetchi	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days progresses with the same grim determination as its protagonist Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) does through Bucharest in the late '80s. The story mimics a thriller, following her over the course of a day as she guides her college roommate, Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), through a backroom abortion -- securing the hotel room, meeting the "doctor," and purchasing the cigarettes and goods to be used as bribes. Marinca's remarkable performance is relaxed and natural, gradually revealing Otilia's drive and vulnerability. Mungiu and DP Oleg Mutu use the same real-time documentary-like techniques as in The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (also shot by Mutu) and the Dardenne brothers. The imagery is plunged in half-light due to the rotting Romanian infrastructure, echoing the protagonists' descent into darkness. We are watching this movie from a privileged vantage point. We know the dictator Ceausescu will fall and that this decrepit era will come to a close. Soviet art from this late period typically depicts numbed and thoroughly corrupt culture from the Politburo to the black markets. Otilia works the system while being a victim of it. But she is also a survivor, savvy and self-aware. She is the hope for the future and the greatest suspense comes from wondering whether she will be crushed beforehand by a society that has abandoned all responsibility for itself. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was featured in the 45th New York Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.