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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is a film directed and co-written by Cristi Puiu. It is, at its simplest, the story of an ordinary man’s nearly ignored death. The 63 year old Mr. Lazarescu spends the movie being shuttled between several different Bucharest hospitals. At each hospital’s emergency room he is turned away from treatment for a variety of different reasons, until eventually it leads to what the viewer must assume is his death. Through the night we watch Mr. Lazarescu slowly deteriorate until he becomes so disoriented that he can no longer even form words. In the end the only uplifting note of the film is the unwavering nurse who follows him the entire night and tries desperately to get him cared for.
After initially watching this movie I was extremely disappointed. I thought that originally it was just a commentary on the health care system in Romania, but slowly I realized that it was so much more. It was a story of overworked doctors who knew that no matter how they helped Mr. Lazarescu he was unlikely to be able to truly be “saved.” It is a commentary on so many hospitals everywhere, where there are not enough doctors, there are no easy solutions, and the doctors have seen situations like his before.
The story is that of a man who has little left working for him, his community, family, even the public health care, are failing to be able to be able to help him. It is a swirling story that ends up just repeating itself with no particular drama or excitement. The emergency rooms do not have doctors running around in excitement like American films and television shows, but instead there are doctors walking around, arguing, casually giving drugs, giving exams, and in general trying to get through the night. The story of the film continually seems to go in circles going nowhere, yet watching it creep sadly towards its end.
It is in this never ending circle of nothing happening is where this documentary like film succeeds. The film is not pretentious, it is not exciting, and there is no happy ending or miracle cure, just the slow minutes of people living their lives and doing what they can. It is a film that leaves the audience feeling empty, a feeling that can either leave the viewer forgetting the movie or one that can bring this emotion of maybe trying to be a little more to the people around, because as the world goes on how many people are being forgotten?
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is a film directed and co-written by Cristi Puiu. It is, at its simplest, the story of an ordinary man’s nearly ignored death. The 63 year old Mr. Lazarescu spends the movie being shuttled between several different Bucharest hospitals. At each hospital’s emergency room he is turned away from treatment for a variety of different reasons, until eventually it leads to what the viewer must assume is his death. Through the night we watch Mr. Lazarescu slowly deteriorate until he becomes so disoriented that he can no longer even form words. In the end the only uplifting note of the film is the unwavering nurse who follows him the entire night and tries desperately to get him cared for.
ReplyDeleteAfter initially watching this movie I was extremely disappointed. I thought that originally it was just a commentary on the health care system in Romania, but slowly I realized that it was so much more. It was a story of overworked doctors who knew that no matter how they helped Mr. Lazarescu he was unlikely to be able to truly be “saved.” It is a commentary on so many hospitals everywhere, where there are not enough doctors, there are no easy solutions, and the doctors have seen situations like his before.
The story is that of a man who has little left working for him, his community, family, even the public health care, are failing to be able to be able to help him. It is a swirling story that ends up just repeating itself with no particular drama or excitement. The emergency rooms do not have doctors running around in excitement like American films and television shows, but instead there are doctors walking around, arguing, casually giving drugs, giving exams, and in general trying to get through the night. The story of the film continually seems to go in circles going nowhere, yet watching it creep sadly towards its end.
It is in this never ending circle of nothing happening is where this documentary like film succeeds. The film is not pretentious, it is not exciting, and there is no happy ending or miracle cure, just the slow minutes of people living their lives and doing what they can. It is a film that leaves the audience feeling empty, a feeling that can either leave the viewer forgetting the movie or one that can bring this emotion of maybe trying to be a little more to the people around, because as the world goes on how many people are being forgotten?