4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

An intense and powerful film from Romania that works so well because of the magnificent performance by Anamaria Marinca in the lead role. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days actually takes place in just one day – a very long and traumatic day for Otilia, though she’s not the one getting the abortion. Helping her friend get an illegal abortion turns out to be more difficult and sacrificial than she could ever have imagined and, through the bare filmmaking style, we experience the day with her, hearing what she hears, feeling what she feels. This is life in Ceausescu’s Romania in 1987 and it's not pretty.

This is a difficult and disturbing film to watch because it feels so real, but it is easily one of the best films of 2007. ****