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4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days - Directed by Cristian Mungiu.  In Romanian with subtitles. Otilia (Laura Vasiliu) helps her college roommate, Gabita (Anamaria Marinca), through the process of getting an illegal abortion. Both actresses give very believable performances which allow you to be absorbed into the drama right away. At first, the plot feels suspenseful because it’s not quite clear what Otilia desperately wants for Gabita or why they have an appointment with man, Mr.Bebe (Vlad Ivanov), at a hotel. Mr.Bebe isn’t pleased when Otilia fails to meet with the pecific requirements he claimed to have told her, such as which hotel he wants to use and that he must get paid the entire fee for his abortion service up front. The moments before the actual abortion feel both riveting and frightening. Writer/director Cristian Mungiu gives the film a cinema verité atmosphere with very natural camera angles, slow pacing and very few cuts as if you were watching it happen right before your very own eyes. Despite a grim subject matter that occasionally feels devastating to watch, the plot unfolds with such focus and stark realism that make it undeniably captivating and, ultimately, haunting. Number of times I checked my watch: 0. Entertainment Value: High. Spiritual Value: High is required or desired. Released by IFC First Take. Opens at IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. Doc - Directed by Immy Humes.  This mildly fascinating documentary focuses on the life of Harold L. Humes, a.k.a. “Doc”, a counter-cultural writer/filmmaker who gradually became insane. He co-founded The Paris Review, a magazine which he and other writers and artists a chance to freely speak their minds. That’s around the time when the government secretly kept surveillance on him, thinking he might be a communist. During that time, he started to become paranoid until his final descent into madness—much like Don Quixote. Director Immy Humes, his daughter, does a decent job of blending interviews with his friends, such as Norman Mailer, William Styron, Paul Auster, George Plimpton and Timothy Lear. However, there’s not enough synthesis of all these recollections from his life. Footage from his black-and-white film Don Peyote, shows how wildly inventive he is as an artist; his theories such as that clouds are spirits of deceased people shows his wildly imaginativeness as a philosopher/spiritualist. It would have been more insightful, though, if these friends were to go deeper into the significance of Doc during the 1960’s and why it’s important to remember him today. Number of times I checked my watch: 4. Entertainment Value: Moderate. Spiritual Value: Moderate. Opens at Film Forum. Main Page Alphabetical Menu Chronological Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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