MovieChat Forums > Moartea domnului Lazarescu (2005) Discussion > Not a movie at all - just a failed 'blac...

Not a movie at all - just a failed 'black-documentary' !

posted 19 years ago by ionutz_mitiu
14 replies | jump to latest

I see this movie and read the many reviews. And I'm completely disappointed.

O.K. - medical system in Romania is bad. Not bad - very bad and even criminal sometimes ( lack of adequate medicine, not enough good doctors and so on ). Is this a good reason to justify a documentary ? Of course. Is automatically a ( far too ) extended documentary a REAL MOVIE ? Not at all.

In fact this ... movie is hard to be named ... "movie" after all. :( It had almost no action. There is more the 75% of time when the action is not ... boring, but completely missing. Dialogs in the movies ? In many cases pure "empty templates" ... mixed with some sub-urban expressions ( probably for substituting the missing realism ) and so on ... In some moments I almost believe that the operator of the movie was gone to drink a beer and let the camera to a student or even to the waitress !! :))

My opinion ?

If you look at it as a "social criticism manifesto" - it may be O.K. If you look at it as an attempt to copy some "black documentaries" from some western filmography - is may be interesting. But if you want to see a Movie ( with M ;) ) - better go to other cinema, to some other movie ... ;)

Regards

[–] AlexandruD 19 years ago

there are some persons who cannot really understand this movie. you are one of them.

[–] bluespace23 19 years ago

I for one have found this movie to be nothing more than a mirror of what is happening in our hospitals and clinics and it was not at all surprising to watch or inovative in any way. It was just a list of head to head facts of everyday life in an hospital in Romania. We all know this.We are all familiar with this and ultimatelly we all suffer from this but lets not blow its trumpet more than this movie deserves. Filmed badly (with the intent of realism in mind, i'm sure),with scenes sometimes prolongued to infinity this movie left me with the taste for something else. Sure, I got all the hidden lectures of the movie and "all the things we have to learn" and the bla,bla,bla. Its not going to change anything! Honestly I am asking you: spend one day in our hospitals and you will find out more horrific stories and see more corruption than it will be projected in a movie.
As a movie it is a great for someone who doesn't live here and doesn't have a clue of what's going on around here, but for me, this movie is a sad reminder that for all these years, all of us saw that we have a PROBLEM with the medical system and no one even bothered to do anything.
I'm just sad about this and this movie hasn't brought anything new for me to see.

[–] imhotep_master_of_egypt 19 years ago

I'm from romania too...and in my opinion this movie had such a great success because it was very realistisc...but realistic in a very bad way.U see,for all the prizes taken,a stupid reality from a stupid country it was something of big interest.i think that the romanians implicated in this movie knew from the beginning that they will win and it was just a question of money and prizes...But it's sad that the others consider our reality a maner to give prizes.Again we were stupid in presenting such a movie...

[–] buyucu 19 years ago

Well, accusing people of not understanding is a little lame. I tottally agree with the first post. I was going to write more harsh things about it but first one sums it up. I just wanted to add. We all have dramas in our lives. Our medical system sucks too. Just because it is a Romanian movie it gets good marks from Romanian people and the IMDb score rises. Well, I say be honest with yourselves. The movie has one camera angle. It looks like it is shot with a handycam. All the unsteady camera moves make me sick. (Especially at the beginning of the movie). Acting was avarage or below except Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu), I think he played quite well. He might really died of boredom. =) All of these doesn't make it a good movie. There are many ways to tell your story but to choose this way is in conclusion boring.

[–] GBooya 19 years ago

Don't buy it!!It's so worst...the best romanian movie...yeah right..like we are all stupid...Medical system in Romania it's just like all the other systems in this country..far away from the coruption in justice system.

Moartea dlui Lazarescu overrated movie---real rating 3/10!!!

[–] frstylr2004 19 years ago

"Stupid people" - Silviu Brucan.

[–] mesiah05 19 years ago

thats why this country is felling a part..because of its people..and u proved how ignorant romanians are...im srry 2 say but it will take us 40 50 years 2 change our menatalty...the film was excellent..i dont want 2 stand out and im sorry if i offended u ....ps..srry 4 the spelling mistakes...if there are..

[–] irinaidu 19 years ago

i totally agree with the first post. the movie feels like a documentary indeed.
but about how close to reality this movie is? our medical sistem sucks and i know i am a part of it, but it sucks for such a big number of causes not just because some doctors don't care about the pacient. it has a very simplistic look at the medical sistem, and maybe all the bad filming and the bad sound was meant to make us feel more in touch with reality but i think it was overdone.

[–] crabapple86 19 years ago

*sigh*

Substitution of the number "2" for the word "to" is not a spelling mistake. Substitution of the letter "u" for the word "you" is not a spelling mistake.

Dropping the letter "o" from the word "sorry" is not a spelling mistake.

It's called being lazy.

Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing is made on the Moon! My Uncle from Mars told me, so I know it's true!

[–] mattstengel 19 years ago

This entire movie was a failure.

Every medical system sucks. Either too expensive, *beep* doctors, or too long waits.

This movie bored me to tears. The only movie I've ever walked out of. I wanted to find reasons to watch it, but how many times can I watch a guy puke and have people scold his drinking. BOOOORING. It's rediculous. It's not interesting, not funny, does NOTHING to further cinema.

What utter garbage, and a waste of eight bucks. I want my money back!

[–] obomenguk 19 years ago

Thank God some other people hated it. Actually I can't say I hated it because it made me feel absolutely nothing. Except BORED. I slept through half of it then woke up and thought 'Heaven help me - is this thing still on?'.

Before I get slated, I am not a film philistine. I like lots of indie movies and foreign films but frankly, I fail to see how anyone could have enjoyed this movie. I'm sure it makes a valid point but all these people that are raving about it just sound pretentious to me. What was interesting about this film? Everyone I was with thought it was torture and the predominant feeling was that we wanted him to die a hell of a lot sooner. Which is a shame cos I quite liked him.

I think the film has failed in its objective if we are left feeling he was never going to die. It might have worked at about an hour shorter, but even then, I highly doubt it.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] connie3000 19 years ago

If you live in Romania, you are probably not going to like this movie, because it is a reminder of the constant failure of the medical system. If you are a Romanian in exile, you will enjoy the movie because it will remind you of the place you left behind. If you are a foreigner, you will be amused by the insanity and the bureaucracy, the arrogance and the cynicism. The reason the movie was shot this way is... because... it is supposed to make you feel sick. It could only be done this way to send the message that it is trying to send. This movie was not meant to entertain or give pleasure to the viewer.
It delivers what it sets out to deliver. That is why it won the awards.

Romanian people are a very sarcastic, cynical bunch. Most Americans do not understand the mentality. This movie is a small window into a very sad world.

[–] lordmunka 19 years ago

"Apartense vacas, que la vida es corta"- Gabriel Garcia Marquez