Nice effects though.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Romanian writer-director Cristi Puiu's second-feature, which debuted in Cannes and won Un Certain Regard Award, and has received numerous awards and instantly established Puiu as a pioneering force of the Romanian New Wave movement starting from the noughties, like his compatriots Cristian Mungiu (4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS, 2007, 9/10 and BEYOND THE HILLS 2012), Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST 2006, and POLICE, ADJECTIVE 2009) and Calin Peter Netzer (CHILD'S POSE 2013).The story is inspired by a true event, and the title is a big spoiler of Mr. Lazarescu's (Fiscuteanu) fate, he is a 62-year-old widower, lived alone with his three cats in a squalid apartment in Bucharest, one normal Saturday, he calls for an ambulance since he has headache and stomach pain, but it never arrives, so he has to seek aid from his next-door neighbours Sandu (Ana) and his wife Mihaela (Dogaru), Sandu calls again for an ambulance when they find out there is blood in Lazarescu's vomit, this time, it finally arrives with a middle-aged paramedic Mioara (Gheorghiu), who decides to bring him to a hospital immediately for fear that he has colon cancer. Unfortunately, a severe bus accident just happened not too long ago nearby, the hospitals are in full steam, thus they, with the ambulance driver Leo (Spahiu), embark on an exhausting odyssey from different hospitals, due to various reasons, the hospitals are crammed with injured passengers from the accident, working overtime with stress and fatigue or personal judgement towards Lazarescu, a stinky old drunkard, who doesn't value his own health by habitually drinking even though he had an ulcer surgery over a decade before, doctors refuse to admit him although clearly he is gravely ill. Lazarescu's condition deteriorates rapidly during the course, only in a fourth hospital, doctors reluctantly agree an emergent operation to remove a blood clot in his brain, by that time, he has already fallen into unconsciousness, and the film aptly ends.Shot archly in hand-held camera, unescorted with score (save the two songs in the opening and ending credits), the most prominent feature of this daring picture is the TV documentary style of shooting, the camera-work faithfully records even the minutest movement of its objects with intimate urgency, from the dilapidated apartment, to the run-down ambulance, to real hospitals, it non-judgmentally observes the happening with aplomb and relentlessly non-protruding, immaculately meshes with a sterling cast, whose performances are so spontaneous and realistic, no trace of acting can be detected, although they are all pros. The MVP, apart from our protagonist Fiscuteanu, who uncannily has passed away in 2007 because of the same colon cancer, is Gheorghiu's Mioara, she is the one who determinedly stays with Mr. Lazarescu, a cranky stranger she has just met, and witnesses his unfair treatment, but cannot help, whereas she has to tolerate all the snide and reproach from the superior and opinionated doctors silently. It is a chilling story, one might argue, timing is not on his side, poor Mr. Lazarescu, if only there was no bus accident maybe he could have been treated in time, yet, this is merely a plot device to aggravate the situation, to put those angels-in-white in a crucible to reveal their disguised shortcomings which might hide quite well under usual circumstances. Down to the nitty-gritty, what disheartening is the responsibility-shifting strategy, the rampant distrust from different hospitals, the bureaucratic procedures, the knee-jerking response from all the doctors is the same, blaming Lazarescu for his drinking problem, clearly, it is not the right time to scold, for doctors, their mission is to save life, not preaching a patient when he is in dire need of operation, frankly speaking, Lazarescu is not an amicable person, but this doesn't give them an excuse to stand in a moral high point and mistreat such an old soul in his critical moment.The medical system has its flaws, for sure, but what I find more admirable is that it grittily lays bare the ugly truth - how easy to ruin a man life because of one's own bias, it is not personal any more, it fatally damages the foundation of our society. Also, imagine, if Mr. Lazarescu has a next-of-kin with him, who can fight for his right when being shuffled, the denouement might not be the same. In a nutshell, the film is a fierce dissection of the maladies concealed amongst human relationships in our society, highly thought-provoking and a must-see for cineastes.

The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu a film by Cristi Puiu is filled with black humor.Though it's a Romanian movie , it's theme satirically opens the mindset of current societies all over the world.It's a very disturbing movie.This film gave me experience some what similar to have a thorn inside my flesh which is difficult to remove.This movie gives a unique experience for those who like this genre.The lead role and paramedic are played out well by the actors.Lazarescu who is in his dying moments being shifted to various hospitals.But none of them addressed paramedic's concerns about the condition of Lazarescu. They constantly refused to admit him .This movie shows us the degraded scenario of medical systems.Some of the scenes and conversations seem unbearable as they irritates our conscience , but that's the specialty of this movie.It depicts reality as such.Some humorous moments in this movie are so dark that it will make you think and realize how cruel we are.In one scene doctor makes a remark about Lazarescu , "We can fix his hemorrhage so that the cancer could kill him" with a tinge of smile.These are moments where humor changes it's color and takes stand in the darker side.This movie shows the materialistic and pragmatic mindsets of current society which is reality to be afraid off .Lack of humanity and lack of concern for others are common behaviors now.Parameters of goodness and badness , social values are now things for archeology.This movie constantly reminds us that " reality is not stranger than we suppose, it is stranger than we can suppose". Technology has made us machines and globalization moulded us as clones .We need to fill this world with the colors of humanity. that's what this movie whispers.my rating is 8 out of 10

Dull, demeaning, even if it is realistic. I can't believe this is marketed as a comedy, or reviewed as 'art', or even poetic and kafkaesque. I was actually given this DVD as a gift, and for the first time ever, I actually threw out a DVD. You can only find this funny if you have not been in that situation. If you have, it's tragic, and not in the least entertaining. As much as it is a reality that "we all have to bite the dust some time", dignity should be part of that ending of our lives. Watching a man die in agony, alone, was not an example of the inevitability of our mortality; I could not just shrug and press stop. An embarrassment to Romania, a disappointment to my friends and I, and a waste of time for anyone.

Other comments cover the story well, so I'll focus on the documentary aspect of this complex film - not complex in story but complex in idea.On the positive side: it is quite remarkable film-making to create an acted film which feels "real" most of the time and as if one is watching a cinema verite documentary on one man's trip through the health care system. The film feels closest to Frederick Wiseman's brilliant (and 6-hour long) documentary "Near Death," with a few transfusions from another medical documentary of his, "Hospital." Why not just do a straight documentary? Acting a scripted story enables the filmmaker (who says in an interview that he admires Wiseman) to make more concise points (with some stereotypical character portrayals) about the way people access an overburdened health care system, how disreputable patients are treated by medical personnel (in the US, GOMER's - "Get Out of My Emergency Room"), and about the human tragedy of dying alone in fear and pain (which happens quite often in the US - see the "SUPPORT" study of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). In its realism in depicting these features of health care with actors and a script, and somewhat unsteady hand-held camera with long takes, "Lazarescu" is quite an achievement in cinema.On the negative side: It is not and IMHO should not be an enjoyable film to watch, though I found it absorbing in the same way that Wiseman's films are absorbing (no accident, I assume). I am utterly baffled by the quotes on the DVD box: "hilarious" . . . "acclaimed comedy" or the subtitle "a black comedy with serious side effects." Baloney. I found absolutely nothing funny about this film, unless one considers modern industrial health care systems as a whole a kind of black comedy or bad joke. Perhaps my reaction is because I'm a medical sociologist with expertise on documentary film portrayal of dying and death (really!), and have seen and analyzed the majority of actual documentaries on the subject (close to 100). This film is quite realistic about most aspects of health care that it weighs in on (whether in Romania OR the U.S.), presumably by the director's intent. I could have shown it to one of my classes as a "documentary" and few would have been the wiser, quite a compliment to the director.Perhaps after seeing this film we might be moved to demand better health care, more medical resources, or more compassion toward sick old men dying alone in pain in the middle of the night, but a "comedy"? To see what's here as a comedy is to lose a part of our humanity.