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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MartinTeller | 82 73rd |
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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PeaceAnarchy | 87 87th |
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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Moribunny | 63 60th |
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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Vince Leo (Qwipster's Movie Reviews) | 80 86th |
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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emtilt | 85 88th |
Really, really good. Brutal to watch.
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Prismatic | 67 22nd |
aka The slow death of mr L.
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afx237vi | 90 95th |
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 |
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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Snufkin88 | 79 69th |
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 | ![]() |