[The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu] isn't just a square slap in the face of state inefficiency. The film is about many things else, too: mortality, sympathy, the fragility and absurdity of life, which are sometimes indistinguishable.

| May 7, 2021

What [the film] does best is take all that frustration and put it into one man's story. As he suffers, we feel his pain and irritation by proxy. That kind of humanity is often missing from debates about policy - but there's nothing more important.

| Mar 16, 2017

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu seems effortlessly observed, even improvised, but it's actually a wonder of choreography, rhythm and social commentary.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 8, 2008

The gradual accumulation of detail, the quotidian elements of the long night, eventually add up to a powerful and engrossing whole.

| Mar 1, 2007

An indictment of an indifferent health care system.

| Original Score: B | Jan 18, 2007

The film feels very real and not a little scary since the viewer knows that he is very likely to eventually likely to share Lazarescu's fate.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 8, 2007

Absurdamente angustiante em seu realismo sem concessões, este é mais do que um filme-denúncia (apropriado para vários países, aliás); é, acima de tudo, um olhar agridoce sobre o melhor e o pior em todos nós.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 28, 2006

Both sad and darkly funny, the film is so sharply conceived and richly populated that it often registers like a Frederick Wiseman documentary, even though everything is scripted and every part played by a professional.

| Dec 26, 2006

This deathly film is crafted with such ease that it comes appallingly alive. A slowly suffocating, masterly work of social realism that shrouds you in a melancholy look at mortality.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2006

While Lazarescu is descending on his nighttime journey toward zero, the film builds up an entire social world around him--one that is harrowing, funny, infuriating, outrageous and sometimes profoundly moving.

Full Review | Nov 11, 2006

A harsh critique of the modern medical system, and though it takes place specifically in Romania, its events could be easily transferred elsewhere.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Nov 8, 2006

Mr. Lazarescu's ordeal will stick with you.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 29, 2006

One of the the most remarkable medical dramas ever attempted.

| Original Score: A | Sep 28, 2006

Puiu's seemingly artless, documentary-style mise en scène, with the characters followed by a shoulder-mounted camera, conceals countless subtleties, foreshadowings and running themes.

| Sep 28, 2006

...one of the best, most intriguing movies of the year. This is the kind of film that transcends borders and can talk to people worldwide.

| Original Score: A | Jul 29, 2006

There's something about Fiscuteanu's quietly desperate performance (with much of the emotion conveyed through his eyes), that gets under your skin.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 28, 2006

As commentary, it's grim. As filmmaking, it's a powerfully disturbing odyssey through the Bucharest health care system.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 28, 2006

Puiu is playful with his symbolism, as evidenced by his titular character's triple-loaded name, but his really astounding achievement is how he transforms commonplace scenes with shimmering alternate meaning.

| Original Score: A+ | Jul 22, 2006

It seems extraordinary to claim that this film is funny but it is.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 15, 2006

As a story of the callous impersonalization we inflict upon one another, the film is timeless.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 15, 2006