"4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile" is a film about betrayal and about a society in which a climate of fear prevails, and in which betrayal is regarded as a necessary weapon against it.
Right at the beginning a recurrent symbol for betrayal is introduced in a close shot: the cigarette. Throughout the movie it is never purchased legally, only on the black market, and is often used as means of bribe. Logically, all the movies' protagonists are heavy smokers
But smoking, especially when done by women, is also criticized at one point. When Otilia, the ever-present female protagonist, attempts to smoke at her boyfriend's mother's birthday party, she is reprimanded by a guest of the family for lacking respect. As a matter of fact, the same man later reveals that he was also against his son "dodging conscription"
He seems to be the only one who is condemning betrayal and, naturally, he is unable to impose his will. All other people are stricken with the disease, and occasionally show this in an absurd, sometimes comical way. For instance, Otilia and her friend Gabita, whom she helps to procure an abortion, both go to different bathrooms at different stages of the movie, but both do the same thing: they open the tap and let water run, without using it, only for fake. They do that, of course, because they are overwhelmed by the situation and can't cope with it. Gabita, because she knows that the malicious Mr Bebe, who has been engaged to carry out the abortion procedure, as a form of payment for his services is going to have sex with first Otilia and then herself. Otilia, later at the birthday party, because while having to confront all these people she is not allowed to reveal anything of the nightmare she has just gone through.
And although she will later speak in private at least about the abortion to her boyfriend Adi, she is committing another, even more serious betrayal at the same time: not mentioning the form of payment she agreed to with Mr Bebe. Confidence, after all, is shaken, and after Otilia's rather abrupt departure it is foreseeable that her relationship to Adi will never be the same as before.
There are betrayals all around, and it is significant that even the most repugnant character feels betrayed. Mr Bebe is upset by the facts that he is not met personally by Gabita at the first point of encounter, but by Otilia, whom he mistakes for Gabita's sister, and that he has to perform the abortion in a different hotel than he had wished. The spectator, not knowing anything yet about his preferred "form of payment", even feels a little bit sorry for him, especially when he learns that Bebe might have to go into jail, because, after having found out about another of Gabita's lies, it becomes obvious that the fetus he is asked to extract is older than three months.
Lies, betrayals, cheating there is no end to it, and not everything can be said, for there is a length limit to this article. But one character, and because of the choice of title obviously the most important one of the movie, should at least be mentioned. 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, that is the age of the unborn fetus, which Otilia (and, a little later, the spectator) sees lying on the bathroom floor, helpless and dead, and not even covered. There is a human shape, there are eyes and a tiny head. It seems to sleep peacefully and will never wake up. Isn't that the utmost betrayal, to be deprived of life?
But then again, we see Otilia running around in the darkness of Bucharest, with the fetus crammed in a bag, trying to get rid of it and finally dropping it on the trash chute of a high rise building. Before that we see her gasping in panic as a stranger is following her. Dogs are howling menacingly, there seems to be no escape. It is a scene taken right out of hell, worse than our worst nightmares can imagine, but on the other hand also a fair reflection of Ceausescu's Rumania. A state of fear and loathing, based on betrayal and lacking the most basic values that could help to create a climate of trust and understanding. An icy and relentless society into which nobody wants to be born that easily.
Right at the beginning a recurrent symbol for betrayal is introduced in a close shot: the cigarette. Throughout the movie it is never purchased legally, only on the black market, and is often used as means of bribe. Logically, all the movies' protagonists are heavy smokers
But smoking, especially when done by women, is also criticized at one point. When Otilia, the ever-present female protagonist, attempts to smoke at her boyfriend's mother's birthday party, she is reprimanded by a guest of the family for lacking respect. As a matter of fact, the same man later reveals that he was also against his son "dodging conscription"
He seems to be the only one who is condemning betrayal and, naturally, he is unable to impose his will. All other people are stricken with the disease, and occasionally show this in an absurd, sometimes comical way. For instance, Otilia and her friend Gabita, whom she helps to procure an abortion, both go to different bathrooms at different stages of the movie, but both do the same thing: they open the tap and let water run, without using it, only for fake. They do that, of course, because they are overwhelmed by the situation and can't cope with it. Gabita, because she knows that the malicious Mr Bebe, who has been engaged to carry out the abortion procedure, as a form of payment for his services is going to have sex with first Otilia and then herself. Otilia, later at the birthday party, because while having to confront all these people she is not allowed to reveal anything of the nightmare she has just gone through.
And although she will later speak in private at least about the abortion to her boyfriend Adi, she is committing another, even more serious betrayal at the same time: not mentioning the form of payment she agreed to with Mr Bebe. Confidence, after all, is shaken, and after Otilia's rather abrupt departure it is foreseeable that her relationship to Adi will never be the same as before.
There are betrayals all around, and it is significant that even the most repugnant character feels betrayed. Mr Bebe is upset by the facts that he is not met personally by Gabita at the first point of encounter, but by Otilia, whom he mistakes for Gabita's sister, and that he has to perform the abortion in a different hotel than he had wished. The spectator, not knowing anything yet about his preferred "form of payment", even feels a little bit sorry for him, especially when he learns that Bebe might have to go into jail, because, after having found out about another of Gabita's lies, it becomes obvious that the fetus he is asked to extract is older than three months.
Lies, betrayals, cheating there is no end to it, and not everything can be said, for there is a length limit to this article. But one character, and because of the choice of title obviously the most important one of the movie, should at least be mentioned. 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, that is the age of the unborn fetus, which Otilia (and, a little later, the spectator) sees lying on the bathroom floor, helpless and dead, and not even covered. There is a human shape, there are eyes and a tiny head. It seems to sleep peacefully and will never wake up. Isn't that the utmost betrayal, to be deprived of life?
But then again, we see Otilia running around in the darkness of Bucharest, with the fetus crammed in a bag, trying to get rid of it and finally dropping it on the trash chute of a high rise building. Before that we see her gasping in panic as a stranger is following her. Dogs are howling menacingly, there seems to be no escape. It is a scene taken right out of hell, worse than our worst nightmares can imagine, but on the other hand also a fair reflection of Ceausescu's Rumania. A state of fear and loathing, based on betrayal and lacking the most basic values that could help to create a climate of trust and understanding. An icy and relentless society into which nobody wants to be born that easily.