The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)

This is great! This movie is something that not only gives you a terrible feeling but it leaves you with a hope.... The hope that maybe, somehow this will end in a different way than the title says. It is admirable how Cristi Puiu managed to show a part of how Romania used to be. The simplicity, the community's moral help, the doctor's ignorance make this movie so much different of any other one I ever saw. It was like seeing everything LIVE. Maybe this is the reason it takes two hours and a half to watch it. It is rather hard for this movie theme to put 5 hours of action in only one and a half; a theme where every detail, every word, and every expression of their faces matter. My opinion: go watch it, and deep inside you, you'll find hope... 'cause it never dies.

Fmovies: The medical system, if you want to call it that, because there's nothing really systematic about it, is savagely explored in the curiously interesting " Death Of Mister Lazarescu", a movie that I'm liking more and more now that I think back on what I saw. Essentially following a hellish night of a lout who gets head and chest pains and then dares to call the ambulance and better yet, dares to go to a hospital. I kind of wonder about this exposure of the medical system, even though it does take place in Romania, whether the same thing could happen here, eg, the type of medical care largely depends on your social class and whether you have enough money or not. Having said that. The lead actor, one Ion Fiscuteanu, is simply phenomenal in the title role as a belligerent old drunk who rather grudgingly goes to the hospital, and as he gets shuffled from hospital to hospital (largely because of a bus accident that swamped many of the E.Rs in the city, becomes less and less communicativeÂ… What a show, and what heartless people the hospital people are! Not just to the patient, who can't stop commenting about his drinking, but also to the EMT's, who dare to offer medical opinions but then are shot down because "they are'nt doctors". OUCH! What a show! If you ever get a chance, try to go see this one.

I just want to respond the first comment (or at least the comment marked as "most useful"), saying that this is not a movie about reality on a post-Comunist country. This is a movie about reality in countries that don't belong to the first Word. I come from Argentina, and my country has never been run as a communist country. Every president we had might have had politics different than other countries, but certainly, never even *near* communism. And that *happens*. It happens *every single day*. Do you know why I didn't enjoyed that movie? Because I couldn't stop thinking that at least half of the population in my country has no chance but to assist to public hospitals and suffer that luck *every day*. I'm lucky I belong to a middle class that can afford private hospitals, but as I see on the news, people go to hospitals at five in the morning to ask for an appointment with a doctor. And I see how doctors who work at public hospitals are frustrated when they can't help their patients because hospital doesn't have the appropriate equipment. It's really sad. It's not post-communism. It's reality at third word countries (and third word doesn't always mean we are from the African country where they are all starving, cause we are doing just fine. We're not that bad.) And the reason these countries have this issues is because, well, like you've seen our economy minister saying it on TV, the big boys are trying to keep us down.

I do hope that The Death of Mr. Lazarescu has changed something in our head. It's not just a movie, It's almost a documentary... Because i can assure you that is a real story. Not a reality show, a real story.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu fmovies. This movie is certainly not a comedy as some reviews claimed. This is a documentary-like shot movie about being old, lonely and dying. Dehumanization and absence of compassion are also two of the themes treated here. The story is focused on the context of Romanian hospitals, but this could be generalized to most social systems globally, i think. And my own experience of old people dying in hospitals here in Belgium is of course not so awful, but somehow related to Mr. Lazarescu's experience. And even the nice characters, who really try to help, don't really change anything to the poor guy's fate. So this movie is really deeply pessimistic. In my opinion, it was also a bit too long (about 150 min.) and definitely not easy-watching. But interesting and thought-provoking (and a bit depressing too...)

It's amazing to see this movie rated as comedy, and reading other people's comments I see the reasons it's so well rated differently. This movie it's a hard to swallow. Not comedy, maybe drama, supra-realistic. It's incredible for most of the people in most civilized countries that what you see there is what happens as a routine in Romania. No wonder Romania's minister of health didn't want to be present at the premiere in Bucharest. This movie is a very realistic reflection of what old or seek people get in Bucharest after paying their medical assurances for a lifetime. Of course it's a movie and there are also side aspects; but seeing the action.. it was nothing new for me. I've been through it with someone very dear to me, and i know what's happening in those hospitals.

Indeed, this movie means a lot more than it seems to.

It is not only about a poor sanitary system. It is also about old age, loneliness, illness, about physical and mental degradation. It is about major as well as minor facts of life, about keeping the human feelings despite of hostile conditions. It is about obedience and dignity. It is about love and care. About bed luck, when it comes, about how to face it.

It is not a documentary; it is not a mass media investigation. It is an art movie, and if it was only about the sanitary system, such a gifted artist like Cristi Puiu shouldn't bother at all. Besides, you know, it is not only about what you say, it is a lot about how you say it. Just have a look and see a great screen play, a great director and great, great, great actors.