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Death becomes him
The Death of Mr Lazarescu
Directed by Cristi Puiu
Certificate 15
This film will scare the life out of you. The Death of Mr Lazarescu is about how unpleasant and uncomfortable it can be when your body – after years of easy living – decides it has had enough.
You are invited to follow widower Mr Lazarescu as he experiences a number of symptoms which are telling him his body is staggering towards the finishing line, through stabbing pains in the abdomen and a dull, constant nagging sensation behind the eyes.
Romania, where he lives, has not been a happy place and Lazarescu finds solace in drink. This, it seems, makes him an easy target for the irritation of doctors. In a situation which demands sympathy, he finds none.
Lazarescu has lived in the same run down Bucharest apartment block throughout his life. He may seem grumpy, but you would too if you were riddled with the creaks and wheezes he has to put up with.
We discover he is respected, though not well-liked, by his neighbours. There is little care for his imminent demise, which is perceived to be his own fault. His family are virtually non existent – a daughter in Canada seems non-plussed by her father’s situation.
The only person remotely interested in not accepting the certain death of Mr Lazarescu is the paramedic sent to take him to on his final journey to hospital.
Miora (Luminita Gheorghiu) spends much of her time banging her head against the brick wall of bureaucracy and accident and emergency unit doctors who do not seem to take the man’s clearly uncomfortable condition seriously.
But the doctors provide some of the darkest and cleverest moments of comedy – their lamenting attitude towards the triviality of their own lives – mobile phones that have run flat, dealing with one symptom just so another life threatening ailment can pop up elsewhere and of course a state whose health service is not as well-funded as some one in Mr Lazarescu’s position would like as he is pushed from one unit to another.
Director Cristi Puiu brings a streak of humour through this deadpan and cleverly paced film. It has a sense of the tragedy and miracle of human consciousness.
Ion Fiscuteanu (pictured) sweats his way through his lines with such realism you forget that he is not really in need of a nurse – you want a doctor to enter stage right and give him a check up before filming recommences.
It all adds up to an original, and frightening premise, showing that death does not become us, but we have to face it anyway. |
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