Brief bio
My name is Sun, and I am a junior student. I like watching movies, especially action movies and horror movies, which could excite me. I am taking the course on ‘European Cinema’ this semester, and I had watched several art movies that our teacher recommended to us. I gradually find it interesting to watch art films. When I watch an action movie or horror movie, I just follow the main character through the story, while art movies could make me step away from the main character and think about the deeper meaning. Therefore, I create this blog to share my ideas, and I am looking forward to your comments.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a Romanian film, which tells the story of a female student who still insists on having an abortion with the help of her best friend, despite local laws that make abortion illegal. This story takes place in an unknown town in Romania in 1987, the director gives the specific time and place of the film, so that the audience can have a partial understanding of the background of the story before watching the film. As a film that takes place in a specific time, understanding its historical or cultural background can deepen our understanding of it 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (later I will call it 432 for short). Therefore, I will analyze the historical context of 432, and explain how it affects the making of the film.
Cristian Mungiu, the director of 432, is a representative of the Romanian new wave. According to Godeanu-Kenworthy and Popescu-Sandu (2014), the Romanian new wave is not exactly the same as Neorealism, new wave filmmakers use ‘long shots, hand-held cameras, amateur actors and fresh faces who have not been typecast’, which aims to make their movies more real and like documentaries. Also, real events will inspire new wave filmmakers, filmmakers view films as history, and many films reflect the real story or make the audience feel like it is a real story. As a representative of Romanian new wave movies, 432 reflects the social situation at that time, it truly presents a story that takes place in a specific historical context.
The story takes place in 1987, at the height of Romania's communist dictatorship, and Mungiu lived through this period, which helps him have a better understanding of the historical context (Uricaru, 2008). Romania was ruled by Ceausescu from 1966 to 1989, and the government set up a national policy to encourage the birth of children in order to have enough labor to industrialize. The decree prohibits divorce entirely, stipulates that every Romanian couple must have at least four children, contraception and abortion are illegal, abortions are punishable by prison sentences and imprisonment, and that those who assist in abortions face criminal law. This policy completely ignores the will of women, and even treats women as ‘fertility machines’.
432 is a film that reflects the plight of women at that time. Gabita became pregnant by accident, but she was not equipped to raise the child, so she decided to have a secret abortion, and there were a lot of similar cases at the time. However, Mungiu did not criticize the system directly in the film, but to minimize the theme of the film in friendship, responsibility, and friendship between women. Coercion is the background of his film rather than the theme, 432 only tells the story of some ordinary people during that period. As for why this story happened, it is left to the audience to explore, this is also a feature of the Romanian new wave.
‘The oppressive patriarchal system that parallels the state oppression of the main characters is gradually revealed via the interactions of the individuals.’ (Godeanu-Kenworthy and Popescu-Sandu, 2014, p.233). Adi is Otilia’s boyfriend, and she borrowed money from him for Gabita’s abortion, Adi lent Otilia money on the condition that she attend family gatherings as his girlfriend. Moreover, Mr. Bebe, people who have abortions ask them for money and sexual services. Otilia and Gabita had to talk to these men of authority and was forced to agree to their terms.
What is more, the hotel receptionist can also be seen as a man of power, having to bribe him with cigarettes and obey his demands. Dinner table conversation shows that class is also a factor which makes women live hard. Otilia and Gabita belong to the same social class, while Adi's parents and relatives are doctors, belonging to the unofficial elite and enjoying privileges. They talked casually about topics that they thought were important, pointing at people with lower social status than their own. Otilia listened but she paid more attention on thinking if there would be any accident with G, and the audience had the same idea.
According to Palmer-Mehta and Haliliuc (2011), there is a form of communist language called ‘wooden language’, which is a kind of rhetoric made up of vague words and the underlying purpose of maintaining political correctness. For instance, Mr. Bebe ‘raped’ Otilia and Gabita before the abortion, but instead of saying ‘you should have sex with me to offset the money’, he used wooden language, which is ‘you should be nice to me too’. He did not say a word related to sex, but we all know his meaning.
He tried to rationalize his behavior with words, as if he was not trying to violate them, and it was all an exchange of services. Mr. Bebe glamorized a forced sexual relationship as a consensual personal transaction. After knowing that Gabita cheated on him, he kept complaining that he had taken huge risks in order to make them feel guilty, so that his plan could be implemented better. Therefore, Mr. Bebe said ‘be nice to me’, it might be easier for Otilia and Gabita to accept his terms although they cannot reject him. Moreover, he was not completely cheating them, he was just withholding some information. After all, he never said he only took money. As for Otilia and Gabita, they had no choice, Mr. Bebe charged the least for the operation, so they chose him, and they had to comply with all his demands.
Reference list
Godeanu-Kenworthy, O. & Popescu-Sandu, O. (2014). From minimalist representation to excessive interpretation: Contextualizing 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from https://doi.org/10.1177/0047244114524148
Palmer-Mehta, V. & Haliliuc, A. (2011). The Performance of Silence in Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. Text and Performance Quarterly, 31(2), 111-129.
Uricaru, I. (2008). 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days: The Corruption of Intimacy. Film Quarterly, 61(4), 12-17.
