Goa: Three days after its opening night screening at the International Film Festival of India (IFII) in Goa, film buffs still haven't stopped talking about the gut-wrenching Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
Repeat screenings of the film were organized over the weekend in the wake of the overwhelming response from delegates.
Set in a small town in Romania during the last years of Communism in the late eighties, the film is about the cathartic journey of two teenage girls, one of whom is pregnant, and the other her friend who helps her through an illegal abortion.
Directed by Cristian Mungiu, the film won the coveted Palme D'Or at Cannes in May, and as a result has found theatrical distribution in 60 countries across the world, including India, despite its disturbing subject matter.
The film's director, who came to Goa with his picture, says he can't articulate exactly what it is about the film that seems to have such a universal emotional resonance.
“I don't have an explanation. I don't have the key. If I had the key, I could make another one like this tomorrow, but you don't really know. You do your best. I hope it comes from the fact that we wanted to be very honest and very direct, not command the story. Finally I think it's just the right story that talks about the feelings that everybody has everywhere in the world,” says the director of the film, Cristian Mungiu.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days takes its title from the age of the foetus when it is expelled from the girl's body.
The film, not just a comment on the issue of abortion and the politics of rights, is really the filmmaker's personal look at the place he grew up in.
It is compelling not only because it is shocks you, but because it's filmed so dramatically, with dialogue so spare, and steadicam photography that captures the protagonists' trauma.
The film also features an incredible performance by actress Anamaria Marinca as the best friend facing a life-altering experience. The actress who traveled to Goa for the screening, says it wasn't a difficult part to play.
“It's a very complex film. It's a very complex story. Playing it or acting it, wasn't difficult because we have such a good story. With us, the more difficult it is the better. It's easy because the situation is there… you just have to understand it. It comes to you, the story comes, it gets you. That was my experience, it wasn't difficult. I could understand it because I empathized with my character,” says Anamaria Marinca.
Secured for distribution in India by a local distributor, the film will release theatrically across the country after it's been looked at by the Censor Board.
It may not be the kind of film that will draw in large crowds, but unarguably a must-watch for cinephiles.
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