Foundational Masterpiece of Romanian New Wave
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
A 150-minute odyssey through the labyrinthine medical system of post-communist Bucharest. A profound meditation on mortality, systemic indifference, and human dignity.
A long night’s journey into death
It must be like this with many people, and not just in Romania. A smelly old drunk calls for an ambulance after having a headache for four days. The ambulance service asks him so many questions he doubts they believe him, and he asks his neighbors for help. They stretch him out on a sofa, ask him how he feels and complain about the stink of his cats. They call the ambulance again.
“The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” will follow this dying man for most of the night, as he gradually slips away from the world and the world little notices. The movie is not heartless but it is matter-of-fact, and makes no attempt to heighten the drama. In its relentless gaze at exactly what happens, it reminds me of the Dardenne brothers (“The Son,” “L'Enfant“), whose films see everything but do not intervene.
Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu) has long lived in his cluttered Bucharest apartment. He has a sister in a nearby town, and a child in Canada, neither much concerned with him. He gives such information to his neighbors, while slowly drifting out of contact with reality. Then the ambulance arrives, with the attendant and the driver Leo (Gabriel Spahiu). In the course of this night, they will take him to four hospitals. It is a long night and a long film, but not a slow one, because we are drawn so deeply into it.
At hospitals, the obviously incompetent Mr. Lazarescu is asked to fill out forms, sign consents and answer questions he does not understand. Each hospital suggests sending him to another one. He is nevertheless given a scan which reveals a blood clot on his brain, and a problem with his liver that “nobody,” a doctor observes, “is going to be able to do anything about.” One of the CT scan technicians almost rejoices: “These neoplasms are Discovery Channel stuff!”
Observation
Long, uninterrupted takes and a restless handheld camera create an almost documentary-like immediacy.
Minimalism
Absence of non-diegetic music. The score is the clinical hum of fluorescent lights and labored breathing.
Dark Absurdity
Balancing tragedy with dry, bleak comedy found in bureaucratic bickering and medical egos.
The film’s focus is never on Mr. Lazarescu, who becomes disoriented and finally almost speechless, and who was probably not good company on his best days. It does not help that he wets himself during a CT scan, and then soils his pants. We focus on the ambulance attendant, who is given one opportunity after another to dump her patient, but stubbornly wants to be sure someone actually pays him attention. Her job is to take sick people to hospitals. If they are not admitted, her life is meaningless.
There is a rule about the movies: Never take an expert to a movie about his or her specialty. “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” is an exception. I suspect medical professionals would see much they recognize in this movie. The credits include a long list of technical advisers, but it doesn’t take an adviser to convince you the movie is authentic. Like “United 93” and the work of the Dardenne brothers, it lives entirely in the moment, seeing what happens as it happens, drawing no conclusions, making no speeches, creating no artificial dramatic conflicts, just showing people living one moment after another, as they must.
Note: The man’s full name is Dante Remus Lazarescu. Dante wrote of the circles of hell. Remus was a co-founder of ancient Rome, killed by his twin. Lazarescu reminds us of Lazarus, who was lucky enough to find someone who could raise him from the dead.
The film, directed and co-written by Cristi Puiu, has been described as a criticism of the health services in Romania. At least in Romania he is not asked for his insurance company, and he has a theoretical right to free medical care. On Cinematical.com, a doctor posted this message: “As a Romanian physician I would say it’s worse than shown. The misery of Romanian hospitals is not shown at all. By the way, this is based on a true story of a man turned down at five Bucharest hospitals in 1997 and eventually left in the street by the paramedics and found dead next morning (the paramedic got fired).”
videocamReal Time
Events often unfold in real-time, emphasizing the weight of passing minutes.
sentiment_dissatisfiedBlack Humor
Tragedy and comedy intertwine, often finding laughter in despair.
apartmentSocial Realism
Set in cramped apartments and gray institutions, stripping away glamour.
gavelBureaucracy
Characters are often trapped in endless mazes of rules and paperwork.
Cristian Mungiu
"The most decorated filmmaker of the group, Mungiu is known for his surgical precision and intense moral dramas. His Palm d'Or win in 2007 put Romania firmly on the cinematic map."
Cristi Puiu
"Often considered the father of the New Wave with his 2001 film 'Stuff and Dough'. His style is rigorous, demanding, and philosophically dense, often pushing the limits of realism."
Corneliu Porumboiu
"The master of deadpan humor. Porumboiu explores the nuances of language, rules, and the absurdity of authority with a lighter, yet deeply intellectual touch."
Radu Jude
"The rebel of the group. While starting in realism, he has evolved into making wild, experimental collages that tackle history and politics with aggression and satire."
The Symbolism of Names
Dante
References Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. A descent into the circles of the Romanian medical hell.
Lăzărescu
References Lazarus. Ironically, in this secular world, no Savior arrives to perform a miracle.
Key Themes and Style
1. Minimalist Realism (The Romanian New Wave)
The film is a masterclass in the aesthetic that would define the Romanian New Wave:
Long Takes: Puiu uses extended, handheld shots that create a claustrophobic sense of "lived reality."
Naturalism: The dialogue is overlapping and procedural, making it feel less like a scripted drama and more like a documentary.
Black Comedy: While the subject is tragic, the film is laced with a "blacker-than-black" humor derived from the absurdity of human interaction and systemic incompetence.
2. The Dantean Allegory
The protagonist's full name—Dante Remus Lăzărescu—is thick with symbolism:
Dante: Like Dante Alighieri, he begins a descent into an "Inferno." Instead of circles of hell, he traverses different hospitals, each more clinical and alienating than the last.
Lăzărescu (Lazarus): A reference to the biblical figure raised from the dead. However, in Puiu’s vision, there is no miracle; the film is a record of a slow, unceremonious exit from the world.
Virgil: Interestingly, the "guide" figures in the film are subverted. His brother-in-law, named Virgil, is absent when needed, leaving the paramedic Mioara to act as his only true (though powerless) advocate.
3. Critique of Post-Communist Society
The film serves as a scathing indictment of the transition from communism to a neglected capitalist healthcare system. It highlights:
Hierarchical Brutality: Doctors frequently belittle the paramedic and treat the elderly patient as a nuisance because of his smell and his history of drinking.
The "Everyman" Tragedy: Much like Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the film argues that the passing of an ordinary, flawed human being is worthy of epic attention.
Legacy
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu proved that a low-budget, hyper-local story could resonate globally. It paved the way for other landmark Romanian films like 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) and Police, Adjective (2009). In 2017, The New York Times ranked it as the 5th best film of the 21st century so far.
