director Cristi Puiu
THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU B+
Romania (153 mi) 2005
d: Cristi Puiu
Shot with such laser-like realism, many viewers may think this
is a searing documentary about the abysmally corrupt Romanian State authorities,
as seen through what resembles an antiquated, Kafkaesque health care
system. Sitting through this film is
like putting in an extra shift at work, as it amazingly resembles the ordinary
rhythms and pace of being at work.
Viewers should be receiving time and a half compensation, as we’re
subjected to the mediocrity and prejudices and everyday mistreatment from
several hospital staffs, resulting in a scathing and uncompromising look at
class inequity, as the treatment of Mr. Lazarescu would be completely different
if he was from another economic scale, or if he was somebody. It recalls the legendary death of blues great
Bessie Smith, written about in Downbeat magazine
by white record producer John Hammond after she was injured in an auto
accident, where she was allegedly refused treatment at three different white
hospitals before finally succumbing at a black hospital. This rumor lasted for decades, and was even
re-mythologized in Edward Albee’s 1959 play The
Death of Bessie Smith. As it turns
out, despite Mr. Hammond’s refusal to recant his story, there is no truth to
this total fabrication. Yet even if
untrue, this mythical tale exposes a truth about Southern racism. LAZARESCU, accordingly, stands as a mythical
tale of societal indifference.
LAZARESCU, though seemingly real, is a complete fabrication, shot by Oleg Mutu,
scripted by the director and co-writer Razvan Radulescu, using professional
actors to recreate two and a half hours of ultra realism to scathingly expose
multiple truths about social injustice that could be anywhere around the world,
telling the story of a man who survived the American WWII bombing campaign over
Romania in 1944, which is his last coherent memory, his last moment of dignity
before he loses consciousness from a series of fatal medical ailments, including
a swollen liver which is placing dangerous blood pressure against his
brain. The film shows how random the
quality of medical care can be, where the standard seems to be pawning off
patients as someone else’s responsibility, as poor Mr. Lazarescu is driven from
hospital to hospital, each distinctly unwilling to deal with him as a patient
needing medical care, instead they start creating myths or rumors
deconstructing who he is. He’s a drunk,
an alcoholic, he smells, he pees on himself, he’s been drinking so he’s getting
what he deserves, does he have any family, is he anybody, is he alone, we can’t
help him, why not try someplace else?
The same series of 3-minute emergency room tests are
performed at each different hospital, and the entire process stops dead in its
tracks, turning from chaos to a hushed quiet as the doctors are looked upon as
holy shamans, demanding absolute obedience as if sent from on high, to perform
this exact same standard medical procedure, yet somehow, in each hospital
except the last, the medical teams are not up to helping this hopelessly ill
man. They view him as an irritating
interruption of their routines. Even
when they eventually perform brain and liver scans, it takes a series of bribes
and personal favors, even sexual flattery, to finally get him the tests he
needs. The last hospital, however,
doesn’t mess around. They simply
perform professionally according to the need, but by that time, the patient is near death. He isn’t answering any
questions, he isn’t making a fuss, he is completely docile and helpless, as
patients are so much easier to render assistance to when they can’t utter a
word. Earlier in the night, he was
something of a chatterbox, confusing friend and foe alike, which as it turned
out, only prolonged his humiliating ordeal.
Initially, this was expected to be the first of a six part series, but
that ambitious project never materialized.
The Romanian writer/director, who’s afraid of flying, opted not to show
up for the Chicago Film Festival, but his film took home the Silver Hugo 2nd
prize.
