4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
90%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: 43 wins & 60 nominations
Featuring gut-wrenching performances from Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu, 4 Months is a gripping portrayal of life in Communist Romania.
This movie is like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and drops, it’s a ride through the emotional turmoil of two women trying to navigate a corrupt system. The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife, and the performances are so raw and real that you forget you’re watching a movie. It’s not a feel-good flick, but it’s definitely a must-see for anyone who appreciates great storytelling and filmmaking. Plus, it won the Palm D’Or, so you know it’s legit.
Production Company(ies)
Backup Media, Big Farm Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Distributor
IFC Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Romania
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2007
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 53m
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Language(s):Romanian
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Country of origin:Belgium, Romania
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 25, 2008 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 17, 2008
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Drama, Romanian, Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Cristian Mungiu, Oleg Mutu, written by Cristian Mungiu, produced by Oleg Mutu and Cristian Mungiu, reviewed by Kristin M Jones, Joshua Rothkopf, Peter Bradshaw, Rene Rodriguez, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Josh Rosenblatt, Brian Eggert, Anton Bitel, Piers Marchant, Javier Ocaña, Nicholas Bell, Debbie Lynn Elias, MPAA rating, box office gross, communist Romania, illegal abortion, friendship, college students, gut-wrenching performances, tense, uncomfortable situations, mutual support, Dolby sound mix, IFC Films, 96% Tomatometer, 86% audience score, 146 reviews, 25,000+ ratings
Worldwide gross: $10,174,839
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $14,576,148
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,834
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,589,547
US/Canada gross: $1,198,208
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,716,514
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,071
US/Canada opening weekend: $51,712
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $74,081
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,055
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): 590000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $845,215
Production budget ranking: 2,097
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $455,148
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $13,275,784
ROI to date (est.): 1,021%
ROI ranking: 120
Laura Vasiliu – Gabita
Vlad Ivanov – Mr. Bebe
Alexandru Potocean – Adi
Luminita Gheorghiu – Adi’s Mother Gina
Adi Carauleanu – Adi’s Father Grigore
Director(s)
Cristian Mungiu
Writer(s)
Cristian Mungiu
Producer(s)
Oleg Mutu, Cristian Mungiu
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
43 wins & 60 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (146) | Top Critics (52) | Fresh (140) | Rotten (6)
[Christian] Mungiu has taken a leap forward into bold, focused storytelling.
February 14, 2018
Kristin M. Jones
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Grippingly horrible.
October 18, 2008 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
[A] brilliant, suspenseful, absolutely riveting film.
October 18, 2008 | Rating: 4/4
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Cristian Mungiu’s masterful chronicle is impressive above all for the way it respects the audience, expecting them to follow the implications of its multifaceted tale without always spelling them out.
February 29, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Virtuosic, assured, and possessed of undeniable aesthetic force, it’s also hard not to turn away from.
February 22, 2008 | Rating: 3.5/5
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
In a story that unfolds over a tense 24-hour period, Mungiu steeps us in the everyday, forcing the viewer to understand this world through its discordance with our own.
February 12, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Everyone, it seems, must abuse the system to survive – and abuses committed by others are far worse than what the young women attempt. The horrific indignities to which both succumb are merely symptomatic of things rotten in the state of Ceaucescu.
December 13, 2021
Anton Bitel
Projected Figures
A Dogme 95-style naturalistic masterpiece, as intricately woven and delicately put together as an ancient tapestry. The lives of the characters are fully invested, imbued with ambiguity and shimmering with verisimilitude. They won’t soon leave you.
December 18, 2020
Piers Marchant
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A mountain of ethical and aesthetic rigor. [Full review in Spanish]
November 3, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Javier Ocaña
Cinemanía (Spain)
A formidable and empathetic expression of the necessity for human agency.
August 14, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
High production values thanks not only to Mungui but also cinematographer Oleg Mutu, superlative acting and compelling story make it easy to see why 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS was handed the Palm D’Or by Jane Fonda…
November 7, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens…
Plot
Romania, 1987, the brutal Ceausescu communist regime is in place; birth control is illegal and abortion is a crime punishable by death. Gabita (Laura Vasliu) is almost five months into an unwanted pregnancy and in meek desperation turns to her friend and roommate, Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) for help in organizing an illegal termination. Unfortunate circumstances force the two women to use an unwanted male abortionist, Bebe (Vlad Ivanov). The bleakness of the storyline expresses a dark socio-political critique in the twilight years of a repressive dictatorship.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu deliver “gut-wrenching performances” in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, according to Fresh Kernels.
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