Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days

VIDEO VIPER for Oct. 24, 2008

‘Four Months’ difficult film to watch

“Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days” is one of those important but difficult films to watch.

It's sort of like “Hard Candy,” just less gratuitous.

It takes place in the final, repressive days of Communism in Romania in the 1980s.

Gabita ((Laura Vasiliu) is a college student who finds herself pregnant. She wants to end the pregnancy, but abortion is illegal.

So she sets out to have an illegal abortion, with the help of a friend, Otilia (Anamaria Marinca).

The pair, while having limited resources, get together the amount of money they think the abortionist will need. They are told to rent a room in one of two select hotels for three days. Unfortunately, there is no record of their reservation and they resort to a seedier hotel.

The seedier hotel may be a cost-cutting measure for the film. The film may be powerful, but it looks like it was put together on a shoe string. The hotel room looks much like the college dorm rooms.

Vlad Ivanov plays the slimey, matter-of-fact abortionist who describes the details of the procedure in a more thorough manner than I wanted to hear.

What's interesting too is director Cristian Mungiu leaves the camera static on these three people, the pregnant girl, her friend and the abortionist, for eternity.

I didn't get a stopwatch out, but in these days where scenes are sometimes measured in single seconds, this scene seems to go on for 10 or 15 minutes.

Nothing is spared in this film and it isn't easy to watch in many instances.

For example, the Ivanov character acts very calm and deliberate and sensible as he describes the actions. We find the girls haven't brought enough money and despite their begging and pleading, he won't agree to simply do the act and get the rest of the money later. They have already paid for the hotel for three days and can't afford that expense again.

The result is, well, you can guess how the girls must make up the difference.

After starting the procedure, the Ivanov character talks about how the fetus will eventually come out. Don't try to flush it down the toilet, the girls are told. Don't leave it in the trash where dogs can get to it.

Yeah, this is sad, sad stuff.

The friend leaves for awhile to attend a birthday party, but when she returns, the fetus has been aborted and sits on the bathroom floor. The camera shows the girl staring down in shock. My thoughts at the time, don't show the fetus. Don't show the fetus.

But of course, they do.

This film garnered lots of accolades and was nominated for best foreign film. There has been discussion the director is pro-choice. But I can see the film working at both levels.

These girls go through a special kind of hell and at the end of the film, agree never to speak of it again. That would seem to side with safe, legal abortions.

But showing the aborted fetus, talk of how to get rid of it will certainly be ammunition for those who are pro-choice.

If easily disturbed, this isn't for you to see. But sometimes films need to take on important subjects and not flinch when they do it.

Director Christian Mungui certainly accomplishes that. This is one film you won't forget. You may want to, but you won't.