4 months, 3 wks and 2 days;

4 months, 3 wks and 2 days ***half

Drama 

Very humanist film, everything is in order. Reality of life, the cruelty of people being taken advantage of during weak moments. Friendship, feminine determination. The lighting is grey and cool, something fresh even though the environment is not a pampered one. Otilia helps her friend Gabita to get an abortion from a piggish man. He speaks like any rough crude guy and he wants to be paid - with sex - when the money is short, and Gabita can no wait any longer at 4months + 3wks.   Otilia helps her get the rest of the money, sleeps w the man.  Otilia has to juggle her schedule with a v nice boy friend who is from a much cushier milieu, from a family of medical profession - so he seems to not  understand problems or need to handle problems the less protected ones needed to - so the dinner of doctors naturally talk about operations etc. This aligned with the illicit abortion and the baby fetus wrapped in a towel in the bathroom. Otilia has to help her friend get rid of it, so she goes through some housing estate, in the dark, the last public buses - with dog barking (we think oh, those dogs will smell the blood in her handbag). Suspense, and finally, she got back; Gabita not in the bedroom. (Did she got found out? Did she faint in the room, where is she? More suspense) Gabita was fine sitting in the restaurant; where one half of the dining room is used for a wedding - happiness and this other half, used for ordinary diners. The restaurators comes with wedding food - the same menu - brain, pork, beef, marrow all heavy duty viscerous food fitting for a wedding, soft fine delicacies made of innerds of animals; and the nature of these yummy food to be taken into the stomach as food, is all so similar to this other soft innerd thing that Gabita just got rid off. They asked to see what else is on the menu.

Dialogue and story very well constructed.  Everything fits. Good tension and sensitive.
I think the abortion scenes are well constructed, nudity and just right.  The womens body are seen just like that, from a medical persons eyes.  The reality of what this involves:  physically, mentally, and socially.   For women, its very hard and how they endure all this; and the society's unfairness when it comes to responsibility.  The film gives fine intricate workings of how life naturally creates problems, and how women solve them through strength of intimate friendship - very moving friendship and maybe sisterhood.