The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
One evening, Mr. Lazarescu, who lives alone, feels a bit dizzy. He finally ends up being driven away in an ambulance, which is the start of a tragicomic odyssey. Each doctor who examines him arrives at an entirely different diagnosis, and his emergency treatment is incessantly postponed. The physicians are deaf to the entreaties of the patient and his friends, and they are devoid of sympathy for the elderly Mr. Lazarescu as he again plunges into the Bucharest night.
Cast and Information
Directed By: Cristi Puiu
Written By: Cristi Puiu, Razvan Radulescu
Starring: Luminita Gheorghiu, Gabriel Spahiu, Adrian Titieni, Mimi Branescu, Clara Voda, Doru Ana, Dorian Boguta, Monica Barladeanu, Florin Zamfirescu, Dana Dogaru, Ion Fiscuteanu, Alina Berzunteanu
Genre: Drama
AKA: Moartea domnului Lãzãrescu
Country: Romania
Where to Stream
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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu belongs to 56 collections
1. 21st Century Top 250 (collaborative: moderated by dardan - 49 stars)
2. Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time (public: Ross - 36 stars)
3. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2010 revision) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 32 stars)
4. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2014 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Jehan - 27 stars)
5. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2012 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 25 stars)
6. 24 hour (or less) timeframe (collaborative: moderated by djross - 24 stars)
7. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2017 revision) (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 22 stars)
8. The Story of Film: An Odyssey (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 20 stars)
9. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
10. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)
11. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2013 revision) (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 16 stars)
12. FIPRESCI Prize (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 14 stars)
13. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2011 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 14 stars)
14. Doubling The Canon (collaborative - 13 stars)
15. Sight and Sound 2012 (collaborative: moderated by DavidB - 13 stars)
16. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2020 revision) (public: djross - 13 stars)
17. Harvard University's Suggested Film Viewing List: Narrative Films (collaborative: moderated by dardan - 12 stars)
18. The Best of the Decade: An Alternative View (collaborative - 9 stars)
19. Purposefully Slow Films (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 8 stars)
20. Skandies (collaborative: moderated by toro913 - 7 stars)
21. Best of criticker: Comedy (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 7 stars)
22. TSPDT 21st Century's Top 250 Most Acclaimed Films (2010) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 6 stars)
23. TSPDT 21st Century's Top 250 Most Acclaimed Films (2012) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 6 stars)
24. They Shoot Pictures: Top 100 Films of the 21st Century (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 5 stars)
25. Slant Magazine's Best of the Aughts (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 4 stars)
26. Sight & Sound's Films of the Decade (00-09) (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 3 stars)
27. Roger Ebert's 4-Star Movies (collaborative: moderated by KirkJiggler - 3 stars)
28. Aughties Films to See (public: theficionado - 3 stars)
29. Dan Sallitt "red" films (public: Scottathon - 3 stars)
30. Djross film as art (public: djross - 3 stars)
31. TSPDT 21st Century's Top 250 Most Acclaimed Films (2011) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 2 stars)
32. Super Champion Film Zone top 100 of 21st century (public: snallygaster - 2 stars)
33. Prix Un Certain Regard (collaborative - 1 star)
34. Romanian Movies (collaborative: moderated by IronMAN - 1 star)
35. Romanian New Wave [Noul val românesc]. (collaborative: moderated by karamazov. - 1 star)
36. Film Comment Best 50 Films of 2006 (public: djross - 1 star)
37. LesInrocks - 100 meilleurs films de la décennie (public: Thegoodboy - 1 star)
38. Ari Aster's list (public: ramynoodle - 1 star)
39. The Greatest Movies of All Time - Filmweb's Alternative Top 500 (public: Hadleyreis - 1 star)
40. 100 New Directors (collaborative: moderated by kaiku991)
41. Great Films of the New Millenium (collaborative: moderated by PerryStroika)
42. Un Certain Regard 2005 (collaborative: moderated by toro913)
43. Best of criticker: 2005 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr)
44. TSPDT Top 150 Most Acclaimed Films of the 21st Century (2017) (collaborative: moderated by arrow-s)
45. Neo-Neo-Reallism (collaborative: moderated by PerryStroika)
46. TSPDT Films I Couldn't Finish (collaborative: moderated by svenerik)
47. Films about Doctors (collaborative: moderated by nauru)
48. Robert Koehler (Variety) 2006 Top Ten (public: djross)
49. Djross 2005 top ten (public: djross)
50. us-tv McD 101 from the 2000s (public: timxyz)
51. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 12 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
52. 2005: Year in Review (public: polanski28)
53. List: Filmspotting Ratings Project - Communal Watchlist (public: KasperL)
54. Sight and Sound 2012 - Combined list - Part II (public: Ariaz)
55. 2005, Missing (public: Matthew Parkinson)
56. Djross Eastern European feature films I have seen (public: djross)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 2 |  |
MartinTeller | 82 73rd |
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Chilling and moving. I detected a Kieslowski vibe, in part because of the Eastern European locale (and a slight thematic similarity to Kieslowski's own Szpital) but also because the characters are so genuine and multi-faceted. The verité camera style combined with truly amazing acting gives the film an unshakeable documentary feel, and the inevitable loss of Lazarescu hits home as something quite real. Very well done and, except for a bit of a slow start, quite engaging.
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| 2 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 87 87th |
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Ever wanted to watch a man inch his way towards death? Here's your chance. It's not as harrowing as you might think because there's a sense of inevitability in the air and frustrations are muted by the understanding that, no matter how bad some decisions are throughout the film, they're all human reactions and have some reasoning behind them. That doesn't mean it's easy to take, and towards the end I did just want it to be over, but it was a productive and insightful experience.
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| 1 |  |
Moribunny | 63 60th |
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This has much in common with the later Romanian movie "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", but Lazarescu is nowhere near as good. It's effectively involving and very well meant, even gutsy. But in its effort to show how bad the health situation in Romania is, it often goes over the top for a realist film with portrayals of uncaring, insensitive, sometimes outrageously obtuse doctors and hospital workers. Also, the all-natural lighting and overly shaky handcam add nothing to this particular film.
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| 1 |  |
Vince Leo (Qwipster's Movie Reviews) | 80 86th |
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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is perhaps the best film this year that I never want the displeasure of sitting through again. [Full Review]
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| 1 |  |
emtilt | 85 88th |
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Really, really good. Brutal to watch.
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| 1 |  |
Prismatic | 67 22nd |
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aka The slow death of mr L.
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| 1 |  |
afx237vi | 90 95th |
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A remarkable, brutal, heartbreaking film. Incredibly naturalistic and genuine performances by the actors; especially Luminita Gheorghiu, who plays the sympathetic, weary paramedic who tends to Mr Lazarescu. In fact, all of the characters are sympathetic to some extent, even the asshole doctors who do their job in spite of the bureaucracy and lack of resources. I also liked the simplicity of the camera-work, which I thought added intimacy to the film and made the situation feel very real.
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maakal | 80 75th |
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This took me at least an hour to really get into, but once I started to care about the characters, I found a very moving, very strange and incredibly frustrating story of the hells of health care. I imagine a similar story could be told in any country. Excellent film.
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| 1 |  |
Snufkin88 | 79 69th |
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As debuts go, there are few as engaging and hard hitting as this. A satirical social commentary on the Romanian health care service, Christi Puiu takes us on a tragically slow and broken rollercoaster ride with poorly Mr. Lazarescu in the front carriage. At most there is one laugh here, and it had the scope and writing craft to have so many more, but then it really isn't a comedy despite being labelled so. The religious symbolism with names (Dante, etc..) are a little too obvious but forgivable
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| Average Percentile 69.29% from 571 Ratings |  |