4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romanian: 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile) is a 2007 Romanian film written and directed by Cristian Mungiu. It won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.^[1] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 421 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (454 × 647 pixel, file size: 42 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Poster of the 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days movie. ... Cristian Mungiu is a Romanian filmmaker born in 1968 in IaÅŸi. ... LuminiÅ£a Gheorghiu (born September 1, 1949) is an actress at Teatrul Bulandra in Bucharest, Romania one of the most respected theater actresses in East Central Europe. ... Anamaria Marinca is a British actress born in Romania on April 1, 1978. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Each year the Cannes Film Festival is held in Cannes, France. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... 2007 has been referred to, by film and media critics, as the Battle of the Sequels 2, a nickname referring to both the 2004 summer movie season and several film franchises from that year, which again appear this year: Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Oceans Thirteen, Resident Evil... Cristian Mungiu is a Romanian filmmaker born in 1968 in IaÅŸi. ... Palme dOr The Palme dOr (Golden Palm) is the highest prize given to a film at the Cannes Film Festival. ... Each year the Cannes Film Festival is held in Cannes, France. ...

The film is set in Communist Romania in the final years of the Nicolae Ceauşescu era. It tells the tragic story of two students, room mates in the university dormitory, who try to arrange an illegal abortion for one of them, during the communist regime of the late 1980s. Anthem Zdrobite cătuÅŸe (1947 - 1953) Te slăvim Românie (1953 - 1968) Trei Culori (1968-1989) Capital Bucharest Language(s) Romanian Government Socialist republic Head of State  - 1947–1965 Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej  - 1965-1989 Nicolae CeauÅŸescu Legislature Marea Adunare NaÅ£ionalÇŽ Historical era Cold War  - Monarchy abolished... Nicolae CeauÅŸescu (IPA , in English, sometimes (and erroneously) ) (January 26, 1918–December 25, 1989) was the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989. ... International status of abortion law  Legal on demand  Legal for rape, maternal life, health, mental health, socioecomic factors, and/or fetal defects  Legal for or illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, fetal defects, and/or mental health  Illegal with exception for rape, maternal life, health, and/or mental...

After making its worldwide debut at Cannes, the film made its Romanian debut on June 1, 2007, at the Transylvania International Film Festival.

Synopsis

The film follows the story of Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) and Găbiţa (Laura Vasiliu), two university friends in a small town in Romania. The film is set in 1987^[2], one of the last years of the Ceauşescu regime. When Găbiţa falls pregnant, the two girls arrange a meeting with Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) in a cheap hotel, where he is to perform an illegal abortion. Anamaria Marinca is a British actress born in Romania on April 1, 1978. ... Nicolae CeauÅŸescu (IPA , in English, sometimes (and erroneously) ) (January 26, 1918–December 25, 1989) was the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989. ...

Production

The initial idea^[3] was inspired by Mungiu's project to do a film, Memories from the Golden Age, which would collect several stories taking place during the Communist times in Romania. Mungiu felt the need for a serious movie, focusing on a tragic story of life under that regime, to balance the intended comedic tone of the planned Memories from the Golden Age. He based the plot of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days on a real story he had heard and, according to him, "still affected me after more than 15 years"^[3].

After thinking about the story for a month, Mungiu put down the synopsis in 10 minutes then wrote the screenplay in another month. He revised the screenplay numerous times during productions, rewriting and taking out parts that didn't seem necessary (some changes were also suggested by discussions with Răzvan Rădulescu, which co-wrote Cristi Puiu's previous two features). Sample from a screenplay, showing dialogue and action descriptions. ... Cristi Puiu (b. ...

Most of the filming was done in Bucharest, with some scenes filmed in a hotel in Ploieşti^[3]. The film was produced on budget of less than €600,000.^[4] Nickname: Motto: Patria si Dreptul Meu (My Country and My Right) Location of Bucharest within Romania (in red) Coordinates: , Country County Founded 1459 (first official mentioned) Government  - Mayor Adriean Videanu Area  - City 228 km²  (88 sq mi)  - Metro 238 km² (91. ... County Prahova County Status County seat Mayor Emil Calotă, Social Democratic Party, since 2000 Area 58. ... “EUR” redirects here. ...

Reviews

So far, the film has received positive reviews from critics. Time magazine's Richard and Mary Corliss described it as a "gripping, satisfying film" and particularly noted the use of minimalism and "formal rigor" as defining aesthetic characteristics.^[2] Jay Weissberg from Variety magazine opined that the film was "pitch perfect and brilliantly acted... a stunning achievement". He remarked that the film shares a number of characteristics with other productions of the New Romanian Cinema, namely: "long takes, controlled camera and an astonishing ear for natural dialogue."^[5] Time (whose trademark is capitalized TIME) is a weekly American newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. ... Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. ... Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ...

Several sources view 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days as indicative of a broader renaissance in Romanian cinema in the 2000s, particularly as another Romanian film, Cristian Nemescu's California Dreamin', won the Prix un certain regard at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival^[6][7] and the The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, one of the best reviewed films of 2005, won the same award two years prior. Cristian Nemescu (March 31, 1979 — August 24, 2006) was a Romanian film director. ... I think we are in Romania, I guess —Captain Jones California Dreamin[1] (Romanian: ) is a 2007 Romanian film by Cristian Nemescu. ... The Prix un certain regard (Un Certain Regard Award) is, since 1978, one of the awards of the Cannes Film Festival. ... The Death of Mr. ...

Notes

The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. ... A pocket watch, a device used to tell time Look up time in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ...

See also

• Cinema of Romania

The Cinema of Romania came into being as an affective reality. ...

External links

• Official site
• Film page on the official Cannes film festival site
• 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days at the Internet Movie Database
• 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days at Rotten Tomatoes
• interview with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days director Cristian Mungiu at european-films.net
• 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days film review at european-films.net