Moartea domnului Lazarescu (2005)

Director:

Cristi Puiu

Writers:

Cristi Puiu (writer)
Razvan Radulescu (writer)

Release Date:

22 September 2005 (Romania)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Mr. Lazarescu, a 63 year old lonely man feels sick and calls the ambulance. When it arrives the doctor...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Ambulance | Doctor | Stairway | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

23 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Doru Ana	...	Sandu Sterian
Monica Barladeanu	...	Mariana
Alina Berzunteanu	...	Dr. Zamfir
Doru Boguta	...	Ambulantier
Mimi Branescu	...	Dr. Mirica
Mihai Bratila	...	Dr. Breslasu
Dragos Bucur	...	Misu
Robert Bumbes	...	Robert
Dan Chiriac	...	Medic triaj Spitalui Universitar
Mirela Cioaba	...	Marioara
Laura Cret	...	Medic ecograf, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Dana Dogaru	...	Mihaela Sterian
Bogdan Dumitrache	...	Medic, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Alexandru Fifea	...	Brancardier, Spitalui Sf. Spiridon
Ion Fiscuteanu	...	Mr. Domnul Lazarescu (as Iaon Fiscuteanu)

Also Known As:

The Death of Mister Lazarescu (Canada: English title) (festival title) (International: English title)
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

150 min | Romania:153 min (original version) | Hong Kong:153 min

Country:

Romania

Language:

Romanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:16 | USA:R | UK:15 | Hungary:16 | Argentina:16 | Norway:A | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Mandragora Movies

Trivia:

The movie is the first in a series of 6 feature-length films that Cristi Puiu will direct, entitled "Stories From the Suburbs of Bucharest".

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

In Apa Marii

Slow paced, but ultimately good movie.

This is one of those movies that you remember because it was different from any other. Well, the Anglo-Saxon viewers will probably remember Bringing Out the Dead with Nicholas Cage and find similarities. But this is not a film that focuses on the characters, but on the system, the people are ordinary people with ordinary needs and flaws, working inside a system that itself is not perfect.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a movie that wants to shock by presenting horrible flaws in a medical system we all need to trust, it is a film that presents the system close to reality, maybe even in a better light than most of us Romanians see it, and still flawed.

The story itself is based on a true event and the end is completely non judgemental. You get to see it and think about it, that is it. The true beauty of the film is the normality of every situation, the calm or unrest of people that is completely ordinary and the way it drags the subject of the movie (Lazarescu himself) from a sickly lonely old man, but otherwise a normal human being, to the end.

I think it is a good film overall, a great film as Romanian films are concerned, and also a good watch for non Romanians as well.