THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU

RATING: A-

Starring: Ion Fiscuteanu, Luminta Gheorghiu, Gabriel Spahiu, Doru Ana, Monica Barladeanu. Edited by Dana Bunescu, Music by Andreea Barbu, Production Designer Christina Barbu, Costume Designer Christina Barbu, Director of Photography Oleg Mutu, Produced by Alex Munteanu, Screenplay by Cristi Puiu and Razvan Radulescu, Directed by Cristi Puiu.

Not Rated, Running Time 153 mins., 1.85 to 1 Academy Standard Aspect Ratio.
In Romanian with English Subtitles.

Sixty-three year old widower Lazarescu Dante Remus (Ion Fiscuteanu) has probably spent too much time drinking since his wife’s death a decade earlier. With his only daughter gone and married in Canada, Mr. Lazarescu lives alone in a dingy apartment with his three cats to keep him company. Waking up with an unusual headache he immediately knows he’s suffering from no mere hangover and that something is very wrong. He’s constantly spitting up and although he shouldn’t, he takes a few swigs from the bottle to dull the pain. Lazarescu calls for an ambulance, but in the city of Bucharest waiting for an ambulance is like waiting for hell to freeze over. He carries himself downstairs to knock on the door of his neighbors Sandu and Miki (Doru Ana & Dana Dogaru) in hopes that they may have some painkillers. Sandu and Miki are fond of Lazarescu, but not too fond of the living conditions of his cat-infested apartment. He looks as if he’s just been drinking too much, but when he spits up blood in front of them, they realize their neighbor is very ill.

They haul Lazarescu back to his apartment and when the ambulance finally arrives, Ms. Mioara (Luminta Gheorghiu) the paramedic figures the patient is another drunk old man. After giving him a shot of glucose and a minor examination she determines that he may have a cancerous tumor of the colon and needs proper medical treatment. Their only mode of transportation is the small worn down ambulance that Miora came in with her driver Leo (Gabriel Spahiu) and when they finally arrive at the University hospital their problems really begin. A major accident involving over forty civilians, including children, has just occurred on the freeway and the majority of the victims have been routed to the hospital and given priority. When Miora finally gets Lazarescu inside, she’s greeted by an unforgiving doctor who chastises her for bringing in a drunk for treatment, while innocent people are in need of his care. Soon she is routed to another hospital and then another, followed by another as she desperately tries to aid a patient who initially appears as a drunken old man but is rapidly deteriorating before her eyes.

For those who have been in need of emergency care, or have seen a loved one become a victim of our heath care response system, this film will hit close to home. I myself endured a similar situation a year ago when I witnessed my father, the healthiest person I know, being whisked away to a hospital after he developed prescription complications following minor surgery. A blind ride in an ambulance is scary even when you’re not the patient, but I must be grateful that I’m not a citizen of Bucharest. Though the film is a road trip and an odyssey through the streets of the early morning, most of the scenes, including the ambulance rides, take place inside. What’s heartbreaking is watching an individual deteriorate slowly and who will surely die because of people caught up in their own lives.

Cristi Puiu directs “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” so expertly that it seems like a documentary unfolding in real time instead of a work of fiction. Oleg Mutu’s beautiful cinematography brings forth the realism of the sickening fluorescent lighting familiar to those who have seen their share of poor hospitals. Even more powerful is his insight into human behavior. While setting Lazarescu up for an MRI scan, a doctor asks his nurse to get him a cappuccino and at another hospital several nurses and a doctor feel threatened when Mioara offers her opinion that the man may be suffering from a tumor. It does turn out that Lazarescu has a tumor, one “the size of the Parliament House” and another that they will have to drill his skull to remove. But will the man live long enough for them to treat him? Despite the various conflicts that Mioara must endure, there are really no villains within the film. The doctors and nurses she encounters whether they are helpful or down right nasty are all suffering from lack of sleep, bad coffee and around-the-clock shifts. Miora herself is tired and eager to sign Lazarescu off, but she has the dignity and sensibility not to leave the man until she can be certain he will be properly cared for.

The most interesting relationship within the film is that between patient and caregiver, Ion Fiscuteanu and Luminta Gheorghiu. She is his only champion and despite his stubbornness she endures whatever hardship may be necessary to save the man’s life. As Lazarescu gets wearier and weaker Miora asks him how does he feel, to which he replies, “I am melancholy.” Although the absurdity of Lazarescu’s and Miora’s encounters often give rise to humor, the film actually leaves you with a sense of melancholy and succeeds in giving one something to think about days after its conclusion.