4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Romania in the last years of Ceausescu. Otilia, a university student, spends a day arranging an abortion for her roommate Gabita: finding a hotel room, getting the money together, negotiating with the man who will do it. He asks for something else, and both women have to pay it. In the middle of the night Otilia also has to go to a birthday dinner with her boyfriend's family. Cristian Mungiu wrote and directed. He has said the film is not a statement about abortion but a film about responsibility and decision-making. The form keeps its distance on purpose: long takes, no score, almost no close-ups, scenes held in medium shot. The colours are desaturated greys, blues and greens. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2007, making Mungiu the first Romanian director to take it. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 96 percent and Metacritic at 97. Then came a controversy: it did not even make the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film at the 80th Academy Awards. The reaction was large enough that the Academy changed its selection method. Who it is for: viewers who like the Romanian New Wave and tension built out of atmosphere rather than event. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a comfortable watch. The hotel room scene and what follows are held deliberately long and leave you no exit.