Druthers and Exit Strategy

Feb 21, 2008

Druthers

Hiatus picks the the Week’s Best Bets

“Four Months, Three Weeks, and Two Days”

It won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival,
appeared in the number-one slot in most top 10 lists, and yet, when Oscar
nominations rolled around, Cristian Mungiu’s gripping, bleak drama set during a
brutal dictatorship in 1980s Romania was curiously left without an nod. “Juno”
this ain’t, as Mungiu weaves together the tale of college student Otilia who,
over the course of 24 hours, races to procure an illegal abortion for her
roommate, Gabita. “Four Months” is deeply rooted in its time period, ironically
known as the “Golden Age of Romania,” using the omnipresent governmental
oppression to backlight the political and moral state, and undercurrent, of a
culture in silent turmoil.

Stick it to the Academy this weekend with this shunned piece
of art, playing for one week only at the Ken
Cinema. (CM)