The Death of Mister Lazarescu Film Difficulty Ranking: 3
Meet Mister Lazarescu. He’s an old man living in an Communist-era apartment block in Bucharest with some cats. Problem is, he’s an alcoholic, and his last few drinks are sending him over the edge of life. Join him in his last few hours as he navigates the bureaucratic Romanian health system. It’s his last nightmare and one to put you off drinking for life.
From: Romania, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Watch on YouTube, Buy on Amazon, Watch on Vudu
Next: I, Daniel Blake, Beauty and the Dogs, Cosy Dens
Why Watch The Death of Mister Lazarescu?
- Experience Romanian drinking culture.
- To tour the hospitals of Bucharest.
- Experience the last minutes of a man’s life in real time.
- Witness hospital life – it’s not easy being a doctor or nurse.
The Breakdown
Before we enter Mister Lazarescu’s apartment, we see the communist-era block he lives in from the outside. It’s big, bland, and oppressive, coloured only by a few lit apartments that we can see through the windows. One of them is Mister Lazarescu’s.
We meet him in his messy kitchen wearing striped pajamas that don’t quite fit his large belly. After feeding his cats, he calls the doctor to complain about a headache he has. Straight after he hangs up, he takes a shot of some unidentified spirits, swigs some pink medicine, and crushes some tablets to consume. At the rate he’s going, it doesn’t look like he’s going to be around for long.
But he’s not stopping there. He visits his neighbours to ask for more drugs. They play along for a while – they’re obviously used to it – before they accompany him back to his apartment where he throws up puke and blood.
Soon after, a doctor arrives and rushes him off to hospital where he’s treated like a second class citizen. He stinks of alcohol – they think he brought it upon himself. Nevertheless, they keep attending to him as his health is revealed to be in an ever more precarious state. He hasn’t got long, and he’s the only one who seems to accept it.
Alcoholism in Romania
According to himself, Mister Lazarescu drinks ‘like any other man’ in Romania. If this is true, then I’m worried for Romania as he drinks a lot.
He mixes drinks to make them stronger, he downs liquid medicine which looks like poison, and even mixes in a few smashed up tablets to his water. His neighbours know he’s an alcoholic but they don’t find his behaviour that unusual until he wretches blood. The paramedic, just sees a normal drunkard until she feels his swollen abdomen. The doctors just see another patient reeking of alcohol before they take a few scans. No one realizes he is just a few steps from death, everyone thinks he’s just had one too many again. It’s symptomatic of a drinking culture that hides themselves from the damage of drinking too much alcohol.
Death on Fast-Forward
At the start of the film, Mister Lazarescu is coherent and with it. He has no problems with moving or talking despite his headache. He’s even overly-talkative with his neighbours and the paramedic that treats him.
However, as the minutes tick by, and he’s moved from hospital to hospital, he slowly loses control of himself. As time goes by, he’s given more and more serious diagnoses and talks less and less. By the end, he can’t walk or form a coherent sentence and he’s forced to leave his life in the hands of others. Because there’s no cuts away from Mister Lazarescu and a very small number of jump cuts, we see his health rapidly deteriorate in real time. As a result, it’s as if the director is showing us death on fast-forward. He shows us that no matter how we are feeling one minute, we can never take our health for granted.
What to Watch Next
The first film that The Death of Mister Lazarescu reminded me of is Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake. The protagonists in both movies both have precarious health and are both hit by life changing events.
There’s also Beauty and the Dogs, another film which takes place in real time whilst touring the local hospitals and police stations after a young woman is raped.
You could also check out The Son and The Child from the Dardennes brothers. Both films live in the moment much like The Death of Mister Lazarescu.
Lastly, if you want to watch a more humorous film taking place in Eastern Europe, check out Cosy Dens from Czech Republic.
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