The World of Movies: The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Written by Rachael Crawley
The World of Movies is a series that explores global cinema, drawing on films from many countries, industries and eras. This week’s movie finds us in Bucharest, Romania, as the night begins.
May contain spoilers.
Choosing a second movie in a series can be tricky - it's important to avoid repetition, either geographically or by subject. No, I didn’t manage to leave the continent, or even the language family from last week, but you’ll definitely find a different tone and setting The Death of Mr Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu, 2005) is simply laid out, and unfolds at a slow pace that forms a highly realistic style. A man gets sick, struggles to find help, and is eventually hospitalized. Variations of this story play out around the world every day. The movie takes that story and tells it in unrelenting detail. As we follow him through a long and terrible night, we become witnesses to his deterioration – even as others brush him aside.
The title character, an older man with only his cats for company, lives in a run-down, cluttered apartment. He appears to be cordial with his neighbours, has a somewhat fraught relationship with a sister in another town, and mentions a daughter living abroad. The viewer has the sense that he’s unimportant in any of their lives. He has been in poor health for years, a decline hastened by heavy drinking. One night, he begins to feel worse, and after some back-and-forth, his neighbours call an ambulance. A paramedic, Mioara, arrives to help him, and their journey begins.
We end up following Lazarescu and the paramedic through the night, across Bucharest to several hospitals. None of them can accommodate him. Multiple doctors dismiss Mioara’s concerns about Lazarescu (usually with snarky or patronizing remarks), blaming his drinking for his symptoms. As with his personal contacts, Lazarescu seems to be overlooked, just another patient on a busy day, and he is cast off as someone else’s problem over and over. Only Mioara, stoically professional throughout, persists in trying to find him medical treatment. Luminita Gheorgiu’s performance feels just as quietly matter-of-fact. She never turns her actions into a big deal. She is doing what she is supposed to.
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.
Unsurprisingly, this movie can be difficult to watch. It isn’t heavy on medical gore, but it is frightening to see a man who is so clearly unwell – a man who has something wrong. Ioan Fiscuteanu’s highly physical performance shows this perfectly. Just by shuffling across a room, can convey how much his character is falling apart. As the movie continues, he becomes sicker, and thus more vulnerable. It takes a toll, to see a person so exposed.
Viewers may balk at the film’s running time of two and a half hours (especially for a movie where, honestly, not much happens) – but to me, this reflected the movie’s realistic tone very well. The film is supposed to drag. A hospitalization is often long and drawn-out, and can be far from straightforward. Lazarescu and Mioara are constantly in transit or waiting for help. Stretching over an entire night, the viewer is almost as weary as the characters by the time we reach morning, and the movie draws to a close.
The movie has been described as humourous. In Romania, it was marketed as a comedy (the poster could come from a sitcom). To be honest, the comic side never quite caught on with me. There is an undercurrent of dry humour in some of the characters, along with a few funny conversations, and the repetitive nature of the hospitals quickly becomes absurd. I wouldn’t describe it as laugh-out-loud funny, though. What is there is quite subtle, and very dark. Lazarescu’s story feels grim above all else. One wonders if, viewing it from these sombre times, it’s simply harder to find the humour in a medical story.
Speaking of which, Netflix’s description suggests that this film takes place during a pandemic. I could find no mention of that in this movie. However, Lazarescu becomes ill shortly after a local bus crash, which does create some eerie scenes in 2021, as hospitals must turn him away for lack of room. Any viewers who wish to avoid pandemic stories can be assured that this is not one.
Lazarescu’s story is harsh, and it is not an easy one to sit through. It is a story of many different failures. With tragedy and comedy rolled together, we accompany this man on what could be his final journey. As in life, his loss will likely be overlooked by those around him. For us, however, Mr. Lazarescu will be remembered for a very long time.
Rachael Crawley holds a Master's Degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, and has worked with film in Canada and in Europe. She adores language and cinema, and how these subjects interact with each other.