The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

Anyone who has waited for treatment in an emergency room or chafed under the less than devoted care of a disinterested doctor will recognize Mr. Lazarescu's dilemma. A 60-ish widower, living alone in Bucharest with his cats, he feels sick enough one evening to call an ambulance. This is the beginning of his Dantesque odyssey deep into the bowels of a big city medical establishment. It's a story that could take place anywhere and Mr. Lazarescu could be your next-door neighbor -- or he could be you.
4/26- Film Forum- NYC
5/05- Music Box- L.A.
5/12- Music Box- Chicago
6/02- Belcourt- Nashville
6/09- Cinema Arts- Huntington
6/16- Ritz- Philadelphia
6/23- Broadway- SLC
6/23- Clev. Inst of Art- Cleveland
6/30- Lumiere- San Fran
6/30- Act- Berkeley
7/7- Dobie- Austin
More Dates TBD

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• romanian
• romania
• cannes
• critical
• healthcare
• trailer
• film
• movie
• theaters

[DanielBrassington]

Agreed, this is hardly a comedy, it may have humour in it, which was pretty sparse anyway, but it's not a comedy. Still great film though and surprisingly engaging considering you could explain the film in a sentence. I guess it's a road movie in a way. Anyone else want to slap the doctors from the first and third hospitals?

[esenbeh]

the trailer gives a VERY wrong impression of the film.

[LightSnowOvernight]

i have visited all 60 hospitals in Bucharest (as part of my job)..the film captures the experience in these facilities

[valreno30]

I'm sorry to here this, as a psychiatrist I must defend Emergency Medicine and all MD.s that do there best. When I worked the ER and bedside it was horrible to see people parish. I must say in deed very dreadful. Every one can not be saved and that is just that. In medicine emergency medicine there is a saying. You win some you loose some. That is just life. To the man in the previous posting, wait till you get a clinical response before you attempt that rubbish. Have some trust and decency.

[roy88thebest]

mă aflu în Italia, te asigur că situația aici nu e mai fericită cu toate că au secole de tradiție capitalistă la spate.

[alphrabbit]

Reminds me of way the healthcare system treated alcholics in the UK in the 60-70s,as in shown no empathy whatsoever.Unfortunately we have to meet this pain head on,in order to move forward & hope for positive change.Whilst there is a dipiction of the black humour that exists within this service,i wouldn't call this a comedy.Maybe it's because i,like so many, was in the middle of such a story.

[DarunArcheos]

Like many of my friends and collegue I refused to watch the movie when I heard what was it about. I have dealt with this crap many times, as a person in need of medical care and I can't stand it to watch it further especially on screen. But at one point, looking for another Romanian movie "Restul e tacere" I came across some sequences.

I think that in the end, the movie depicts the twisted reality in our medical system but also human ignorance and prejudices that can be applied everywhere else.

[sleepypoodle]

I think it represents the prejudices and judgments made globally. As a retired healthcare worker in Britain, I recognised far too many aspects of his care which I think are universal.

It examines human nature rather than the healthcare system in Romania.

[DoinaSambaFan]

As a fourth-generation Romanian myself, (with a limited fluency of Romanian), I would have to admit that the movie is far from flattering (very realistic) which should be right up there with Michael Moore's "Sicko". However, the only Romanian I ever understood was the song "Cum e Oare" (Telling Like It Is) in both the trailer/opening credits. If this is the case, can somebody out there please tell me, IS THIS REALLY ROMANIA'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN A NUTSHELL???

[wuhdye]

yes...I want to slap those doctors...even my own dentist...I want to slap =him.

[sheffa2006]

doamne fereste sa ajungi la spital in tara asta....mori cu zile....:-)