Cristi Puiu (Romania 2005)
Dori Ana, Monica Barladeanu, Alina Berzunteanu Rated 15 Run time 153 minsMr. Lazarescu is taken ill, rings for an ambulance (it takes an hour to arrive), and is then shuttled around four different hospitals, whose staff all seem reluctant to get involved. Only paramedic Mioara shows any sympathy amid the bureaucracy of registration, form-filling etc. A darkly satirical comedy about life, death and the limitations of healthcare.
93% – Rotten Tomatoes
7.8 / 10 – IMDB
“The film’s real success is that Puiu impresses both with his compassion for human behaviour and his tight grip on realist, documentary-style filmmaking”
“No hails of bullets, weepy farewells, hysterical resuscitation efforts or soppy flashbacks for Puiu; this is death as cinema rarely does it – credibly.”