hardercore

Anyone seen this film, care to share their take? after hearing so much about it, with huge buzz coming out of Cannes, the shock that it was left out of the Oscar shortlist, the 95 score on metacritic, I decided to check it out. It turned out to be one of the worst experiences watching a film I've had in recent times. The entire story is very bleak, very depressing, with very few redeeming qualities that leave you feeling your time was well spent. It is very difficult to watch people suffer for two hours like they do in this film. The direction is decent, for sure -- the scenes that play out within still compositions were interesting, for example, and the performances were quite good, too. But a lot of the dialogue bugged me, and the film seemed so committed to realism that it forgot to take a stance and say something. This is not to say that it should have been pro- or anti- abortion outright and explicitly, but that it should have just done something other than show an act so uncomfortable and disquieting, and then leaving it there, without really delving more into the emotional ramifications it had for the characters.

Bottom line - what the fuck was all the fuss about?

Gerry P.

If you think a movie can't be good because it's bleak and depressing then I don't know what to tell ya.... I found it to be a real clear-eyed look at illegal abortion. It managed to show abortion as the horrific act that it is, yet also show why abortion should remain a safe and legal option for desperate young women.

hardercore

I've seen my fair share of bleak and depressing films that have been very good (Requiem for a Dream, 21 Grams, Million Dollar Baby come to mind), but I guess I just feel that those films have something else, something that hits you on a gut, emotional level that makes it worthwhile sitting through all that bleakness. Mungiu's film, I felt, lacked this -- whatever it is, and just seemed so determined to be matter of fact - ultra realistic - that it limited any emotional scope the film could have had. Some characters (I'm referring to Ivanov's Bebe here more than anyone else) seemed to take a sadistic pleasure in explaining how uncomfortable and dire the situation was, and I just don't see how any enjoyment or meaning can be drawn from that.

H8nXTC

I've wanted to see this since the hype, but it ain't playing anywhere I could find around me, and I'm in L.A.

Gerry P.

So it was too realistic? I was fully in tune with the lead girl's predicament, but that's just me. Perhaps you need a little more of something (melodrama?) with your depressing cinema than I do.

Rypro 525

i saw a preview of this before seeing 'there will be blood'. had never heard of it before hand, but it seems interesting enough. Anyonr know when this will be released?

JPRaup

I loved this film. Very bleak and depressing though. I really liked the long takes.

Yakuza Bengoshi

This was the best film I saw in 2007. I find this comment funny. People love meaningless violence and gore in films, but they don't want to see anguish or pain that has something to say about the real world.

It was a record of what it was like to live in Romania at a certain time. I think it captured that well, and it did have something to say, especially to Romanians (who made up the majority of the audience I saw it with), namely let's not let things be like this ever again.

I'm curious how you think it could have delved any deeper into the emotional ramifications than it did given that it was focused on the events of a single day. Would you have preferred that there be a final scene that takes place ten years later with Gabriella and Otilia getting together to discuss how their lives were ruined by the events of that day?

marty888

This was one of the highlights of last fall's NY Film Festival - compelling and thought-provoking, with solid performances and assured direction. Defnitely not for the "action" crowd, but it will leave you with images and emotions long after the most recent slasher/gross-out comedy/sitcom has faded from memory.

Giles

personally I really didn't find this movie to be all that - I think it was the characters and their actions that just rubbed me the wrong way - a film can be daring, different and challenging, but when a viewer has problems with the main characters (like myself) a part of the film becomes dimenished - the film elicited a big: "and... ?!... so what, you all are dumb?" from me.

Jason Bovberg

I saw on the Ebert show that this will be featured on IFC On Demand starting this Friday. Cool!