(2005) 4 Nathan Southern Stylistically, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu -- Romanian director Cristi Puiu's document of one man's bleak trek through the inadequacies and weaknesses of the Bucharest medical system -- is an unmitigated triumph. Puiu ingeniously shoots the film with handheld cinematography and low-budget stock and lighting that give it a raw documentary feel, and employs a temporally and spatially unified narrative that force-feeds the audience the graphic physiological and emotional turmoil of the central character, Lazarescu Dante Remus. Puiu is thus able to use these devices to generate automatic empathy and emotional attachment on a tonal level. And such are all towering strengths. That we actually become emotionally invested in Remus is a testament to the wondrous skill with which Puiu crafted the film. On the opposite side of the coin, however, the picture provides strikingly little joy and relief; it becomes unbearably depressing to watch Lazarescu get shuttled from one medical facility to another as he pukes, moans, and ultimately descends into complete dementia -- all to the chauvinistic insensitivity of the medical personnel around him. Puiu probably believed that his occasional doses of black comedy would compensate for the film's disturbing material (much as the visceral, graphic discussion of bodily functions and the gallows humor offset each other in the literature of Jan Wolkers). But whereas Wolkers is clever and inventive, and never jokes at the expense of his characters, Puiu's attempts at humor -- many generated by an insensitive, bearded Romanian doctor -- feel alternately cruel and mean. (That is, unless you find it funny to see a physician lean over into the face of a bloodied patient with a severe cranial injury and scream out a query about whether his head still aches, and then pound violently on the stomach of another patient whose liver is ready to burst.) All told, many assets of Lazarescu are magnificent, but by their very nature, they make this a much easier picture to admire than to actually enjoy.

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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)

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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

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Adult Situations
Brief Nudity
Profanity

genres

Drama

sub-genres

Medical Drama

category

Feature

alternate title

Moartea Domnului Lazarescu

directed by

Cristi Puiu

countries

Romania

release date

April 26, 2006 (USA - Limited)

run time

153 min.

released by

Tartan

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cast

Ion Fiscuteanu: Dante Lazarescu

Luminita Gheorghiu: Mioara

Doru Ana: Sandu Sterian

Dana Dogaru: Mihaela Sterian

Serban Pavlu: Gelu

Gabriel Spahiu: Leo

Florin Zamfirescu: Doctor Ardelean

Bogdan Dumitrache: Medic at Spitalul Sf Spiridon

Dragos Bucur: Misu

Dan Chiriac: Trial Medic at Spitalul University

Clara Voda: Doctor Gina Filip

Adrian Titieni: Doctor Dragos Popescu

Mihai Bratila: Doctor Breslasu

Monica Barladeanu: Mariana

Mimi Branescu: Doctor Mirica

Alina Berzunteanu: Doctor Zamfir

Simona Popescu: Assistant at Spitalul Bagdasar

Mirela Cioaba: Marioara

Dorian Boguta: Ambulance Driver

Robert Bumbes: Robert

Laura Cret: Echograph Medic at Spitalul Sf Spiridon

Alexandru Fifeu: Virgil, Stretcher Carrier, Spitalul Sf Spiridon

Florina Alina Gleznea: Assistant at Spitalul Sf Spiridon

Tidor Hristescu: Doctor Kelemen

Rodica Ionescu: Assistant at Spitalul Universitar

Cerasela Iosifescu: Assistant at Assistant at Spitalul Filaret

Irina Kozsar: Assistant at Spitalul Universitar

Rodica Lazar: Assistant at Spitalul Filaret

Alexandru Cristian Potocean: Stretcher Carrier at Spitalul Bagdasar

Calin Adrian Puiu: Stretcher Carrier at Spitalul Bagdasar

Anca Puiu: Vecina

Emil Puiu: DL Sandu

Iuliana Puiu: Dna Sandu

Smaranda Puiu: Smarandu

Jean Lorin Sterian: Medic at Spitalul Universitar

Marian Stoica: Patient of Spitalul Sf Spiridon

Maria Serb: Assistant at Spitalul Bagdasar

Andrei Serban: Stretcher Carrier at Spital of SF Spiridon

Cristian Turungiu Ionel Zaharia: Stretcher Carrier, Spitalul Universitars

Lorena-Andrada Zabrautanu: Assistant at Spitalul Universitar

Mircea Dinescu

Radu Moraru

Adriana Muraru

crew

Cristi Puiu: Director, Screenwriter
Alexandru Munteanu: Producer, Executive Producer
Razvan Radulescu: Screenwriter
Oleg Mutu: Cinematographer
Andreea Paduraru: Composer (Music Score)
Dana Bunescu: Editor
Cristina Barbu: Costume Designer
Constantin Fleancu: Sound/Sound Designer
Cristian Tarnovetchi: Sound/Sound Designer
Andrei Butica: Camera Operator
Ana Szel: Casting
Tidor Hristescu: Production Manager
Adrian Nitoi: Properties Master
Adriana Bumbes: Production Accountant
Alexandru Alecu: Properties Master
Eugenia Apostoleauna: Production Accountant
Georgiana Creanga: Makeup
Lidia Ivan: Hair Styles
Maria Savulescu: Makeup
Mihaela Istrate: Production Accountant
Oana Bujgoi: Location Manager
Radu Jude: Assistant Director
Silvana Bratu: Makeup Special Effects