Harrowing tale of friendship
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or prize winner, is a harrowing tale of a young Romanian university student who discovers she's pregnant and the effects of her attempt to get an abortion on both her and her friend and roommate.<br /> Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) has allowed her pregnancy to progress into its second trimester because of a combination of denial, fear, and ignorance.  Depressed and terrified, she relies on friend Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) to book a hotel room, meet an abortionist, and come up with the necessary money.<br /> Director Cristian Mungiu presents this sad tale in almost documentary fashion.  There is no glamor lighting, no cinematic tricks, no artificial moments, not even music to suggest mood.  It is a stark movie that reveals the raw emotion of the two young women racing against time as they navigate the horrors of police state rigidity, negotiate with an abortionist with far greater bargaining leverage than theirs, and risk imprisonment.<br /> Often movies about abortion polarize audiences:  Pro-lifers will abhor them, pro-choicers will applaud them.  With "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days," this isn't the case.  It doesn't preach either way.  The focus is on the plight of the two women, particularly Otilia, after they've made a reluctant decision.  Their experience hardly ends with rose petals and champagne.  They have gone through danger and dehumanization.<br /> When it comes to screen villains, seldom has there been one as creepy and scary as Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov), the abortionist.  When he first meets with the girls, director Mungiu presents a lengthy, fairly low-key scene that sends chills through the viewer as Bebe calmly reprimands them for not following his instructions exactly as he outlined.  He is like a schoolmaster scolding his students for breaches of classroom protocol.  Oddly, there is also a paternal tone to his admonitions.  He doesn't shout or threaten.  He simply, methodically goes over the instructions he has given, makes sure the girls understood them, and then enumerates how they have veered from his prescribed directions.  He is risking his freedom, he states, and the girls' departure from instructions imperils him.<br /> The scene builds as he and Gabita and Otilia discuss money, the procedure itself, what Gabita will experience, and even disposal of the fetus.  By cutting frequently to close-ups of Otilia and Gabita, Mungiu underscores their terror and disgust at the events Bebe discusses so matter-of-factly.<br /> We stay with Otilia as we meet her boyfriend Adi (Alex Potocean) and his family at a birthday celebration for his mother.  Because this occurs the same day as the planned abortion, Otilia wants to pass, but after petulant pleas from Adi, she agrees to stop over briefly.  In a scene played in one shot, we see Otilia surrounded by Adi and his well-to-do, professional family members at the dinner table and we hear dinnertime conversation that condescends to working people -- people like Otilia.  The scene resonates because of the family's easy affluence and Otilia's own grim, secret attempt to help a friend in need.<br /> "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," not rated, is heavy-duty movie going.  It is free of politically correct garnish, offering a somber portrait of two desperate women allied in their attempt to extricate one of them from a terrible predicament.  The movie relentlessly shows the awful reality of skirting the law, compromising personal morality, and subjugating themselves to both physical and emotional distress.
The movie title "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [DVD]," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.3 from 306 reviewers. 
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This title falls under the categories of Movies & TV, Genre for Featured Categories and Drama. 
The additional details include the following in key-value format :
 {"Format": "Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen", "Contributor": "Laura Vasiliu, Marioara Sterian, Ion Sapdaru, Monica Alexandrescu, Costica Babu, Teodor Corban, Doru Ana, Cristian Mungiu, Cerasela Iosifescu, Vlad Ivanov, Tania Popa, Alexandru Potocean, Constantin Bojog, Mihaela Alexandru, Eugenia Bos\u00e2nceanu, Anamaria MarincaLaura Vasiliu, Marioara Sterian, Ion Sapdaru, Monica Alexandrescu, Costica Babu, Teodor Corban, Doru Ana, Cristian Mungiu, Cerasela Iosifescu, Vlad Ivanov, Tania Popa, Alexandru Potocean, Constantin Bojog, Mihaela Alexandru, Eugenia Bos\u00e2nceanu, Anamaria Marinca  See more", "Language": "Unqualified", "Runtime": "1 hour and 53 minutes", "Is Discontinued By Manufacturer": "No", "MPAA rating": "Unrated (Not Rated)", "Product Dimensions": "7.5 x 5.25 x 0.5 inches; 3.2 Ounces", "Director": "Cristian Mungiu", "Media Format": "Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen", "Run time": "1 hour and 53 minutes", "Release date": "October 14, 2008", "Actors": "Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Alexandru Potocean, Ion Sapdaru", "Subtitles": "English", "Studio": "Ifc", "Number of discs": "1"}

Here is a brief synopsis of the title : Two College Roommates have 24 hours to make the ultimate choice as they finalize arrangements to meet a black market doctor for an illegal abortion. What follows is their harrowing descent into a world in where danger, darkness and tragedy lurk around every corner..