Romania, 1987. Two years before the fall of the Ceauşescu regime, a student helps her friend to obtain an illegal abortion. "4 luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 Zile" details the events of a single day in which both girls will face circumstances of growing despair and horror. A question is asked and answered: What would you do for a friend?

I don't think I can praise "4 luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 Zile" highly enough. I thought that "4 luni, 3 Saptamani Si 2 Zile" was a great film, perfectly executed.

There are some particular words I would use to describe this film. Compelling, downbeat, tense, shocking, harrowing and graphic. The country of Romania itself is a character in this movie. A cold and unfriendly place. Practically everything appearing to be worn down, old and shabby. The people are tired, irritated and impatient. I think it is a snapshot of a kind of hell on Earth.

There are stunning performances by Anamaria Marinca (some people might remember how good she was a couple of years ago in "Sex Traffic" on Channel 4) and Laura Vasiliu as the two girls. (Check out the scene of Anamaria Marinca at a family birthday party. A masterclass of internalised acting and suppressed emotion. She is doing practically nothing, but her mind is elsewhere. You can see it in her eyes.) Also, a couple of words of praise for Vlad Ivanov as Mr. Bebe, the abortionist. His performance as Mr. Bebe is a calculated study of bland and indifferent evil. Quietly spoken, balding, middle aged in his comfortable jumper and comfortable shoes. Manipulative, advantage taking, awful and chilling. Really chilling.

However you line up on the subject of abortion, pro-choice or pro-life, you should see this film. One of the best of the year.

What would you do for a friend?

Friendship and support in our normal everyday life is a very valuable thing to have. In a repressive environment where one misstep can cause imprisonment or worse, it is often the only avenue for survival. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, is about the bond between two young Romanian students who are there for each in moments of crisis, in this case - an illegal abortion, carried out in stealth, where danger is an insidious presence at all times, a caution to those in our own country wishing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Reminiscent of the style of the Dardenne Brothers with its close-ups and hand-held camera, the film is mostly understated and key events happen off camera (with one glaring exception), yet it is a very demanding film, powerfully acted and totally convincing, as uncompromising as any film I have seen in recent memory.

Set in Romania in 1987 during the final days of the Ceausescu regime, 432 conveys a pervasive grayness that underscores the sterility of life in Eastern Europe at the time. If there was a bright and happy side to life in Romania in the late eighties, you will not find it here. For the first thirty minutes, preparations are being made for an unspecified event by two students in a college dormitory in Bucharest that looks like the interior of a hotel scheduled for demolition. One roommate Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) sends the other, Otilla (Anamaria Marinca), to procure items such as cigarettes, soaps, and beauty items and to borrow money from friends but we do not learn what the money is for. The two women are very different. Gabita is passive, almost helpless, while Otilla is more self assured and outgoing, though she is also circumspect in displaying her emotions.

Mingu does not show us the world in which the girls live or any of the circumstances that led to Gabita's drastic decision to have the abortion. It is just a given. When it is revealed that Gabita is pregnant and is seeking an abortion, it is the more aggressive Otilla who makes the arrangements. Trying to book a room at the hotels that were suggested, Otilla is thwarted by cold, bureaucratic clerks who act as if they just came from the hospital attending Mr. Lazarescu. Gabita's failure to confirm hotel reservations means that Otilla has to settle for a third hotel not on the list. When she meets with Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov), the illegal abortionist, he is perturbed that she came instead of Gabita and even more distressed that neither of the two hotels he suggested were booked.

A scene outside a building in which Bebe scolds his elderly mother creates more anxiety for Otilla and the meeting at the hotel between the two women and the abortionist is replete with threats, bullying tactics, and demands for more money. When the sleazy abortionist discovers that Gabita is not two months pregnant as she had said but 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, he ups the ante. Cynically citing the risks he is taking that could result in a long prison term, Bebe only agrees to perform the abortion after both women reluctantly agree to have sex with him. Heightening the feeling of uneasiness, Otilla leaves Gabita alone in her hotel room propped up on two pillows unable to move, as she fulfills a promise to her boyfriend, Adi (Alex Potocean), to attend his mother's birthday party.

Otilla is sullen and uncommunicative and the conversation among family members goes on and on, making her feel more and more isolated. One relative criticizes her asking for a cigarette and goes into a speech about the failings of the younger generation as Otilla looks for a reason to leave. As the film winds to a gripping conclusion, the almost unbearable tension had many in the sold out audience stirring uncomfortably in their seats. Though 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days depicts the oppressive nature of the social system and its laws, it is not a polemic against Communism or illegal abortions, but is more about the dignity of two women, friends who are willing to take risks and sacrifice for each other without expectation of reward or even thanks.

It's 1987 Romania under the brutal Ceausescu communist dictatorship. Gabita (Laura Vasliu) is more than 4 Months pregnant and she's desperate for a highly illegal abortion. Her friend Otilia Mihartescu (Anamaria Marinca) searches all day setting up the abortion with Mr. Bebe. He starts complaining about them not following his instructions and demands more money which the girls don't have. Then he wants sex from both women as payment. After the abortion, Otilia has to go to her boyfriend's family dinner while Gabita waits in the hotel for the abortion to take hold.

This Romanian indie is done in long extended shots. Some of them are slow but mostly, they are very engaging. Some of them are harrowing. It takes its time to get to the point of the movie. The world in this film is a cold hard place. The style of the film only adds to its harshness. There is no pretty camera tricks or beautiful shots. It's a bleak film of a bleak world. The acting is natural and stark. The movie follows Anamaria Marinca. She is mostly unemotionally as she quietly suffers the indignity of Bebe. She shows that she has a good range and she's compelling as the lead. Laura Vasliu's role is a minor one where she can be more emotional. The movie is unrelentingly in its casual bleakness.