Bruce says: “Dante Remus Lazarescu
(Ion Fiscuteanu) wakes up one morning with a splitting headache and severe
nausea. A widower for ten years, he is now alone since his daughter has
left Romania, emigrating to Canada. Living with three cats he is unkempt
and his apartment is untidy and not too clean. Most of his pleasure is
derived from alcohol.
“Lazarescu feels progressively worse and calls for an ambulance. It
is Saturday and there has been a huge accident involving a truck and
a bus
of tourists. When Mr. Lazarescu knocks on the door of his neighbors Sandu
(Doru Ana) and Mariana (Monica Barladeanu) across the hall, they notice
he is having trouble standing up and help him back to his living room.
He throws up on himself. Both Sandu and Mariana comment on his alcoholic
stench. Mr. Lazarescu repeats ‘I drink at my own expense.’
“When the paramedics Leo and Marioara (Mirela Cioaba) finally show up
hours later, Mr. Lazarescu is taken to the nearest emergency room. Overburdened
by accident victims the doctors dismiss Lazarescu as a pitiful alcoholic.
He is sent to another hospital for liver scan. En route it is cold and
Mr. Lazarescu wets himself adding the smell of urine to his body odor,
the smell of vomit, and his alcoholic stench. At the second hospital
Mr. Lazarescu is treated poorly but, with the help of a technician friend
of Marioana’s, he is sent to x-ray for a head and liver scan. Pictures
indicate he has a subdureal hematoma (a brain hemorrhage). Surgery is
jammed with accident victims and he is sent to a third hospital where
the doctors are distracted by personal matters and not at all interested
in treating a man as disgusting as Lazarescu. To Marioana they are patronizing
and rude. They acknowledge the urgency of the situation but refuse to
perform surgery without Lazarescu signing a consent form. By this time
he is partially comatose and incoherent to the point of not being able
to complete a sentence. The paramedics finally shuffle off to a fourth
hospital where Lazarescu is prepped for surgery and dies while awaiting
transport to the operating room.
“Throughout this 2 ½ hour ordeal we get more than a glimpse of
Romanian culture and class structure. We hear constant background bantering
on mundane subjects – talk of work, astrology, marriages, weddings,
divorce, children, flowers and the ever–present TV and radio coverage
of the bus accident. With all this buzz around him Lazarescu dies like
a swatted fly, nothing more than an annoying pest. It is difficult to
feel sorry for him because there is nothing about him that is vaguely
likable. Marioana is the only person in the film with a true sense of
humanity. She has a profound sense of professionalism and a decent heart.
3 cats”
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