“Cannes 2005 struck gold with THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU…an explicit ode to mortality. Brilliantly acted…it’s a tour de force. ”
– J. Hoberman, Village Voice

“(A) slice-of-life masterpiece…I loved (it) beyond reckoning.”
–Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

“Lacerating, invigorating and unlike anything you’ve ever seen! A Dante-esque journey! A compelling work of art that’s not to be missed.”
– Michael Koresky, Interview

“Hip, hip, hooray! Raves almost feel untoward for this riveting anti-drama of existence ignored.”
– The L Magazine

“Powerful and engrossing. A realist and sobering and artfully told look at one man’s descent into health-care hell!”
– Lewis Beale, Film Journal International

DIRECTED BY CRISTI PUIU • ROMANIA • 2005 • 154 MINUTES • IN ROMANIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • TARTAN FILMS

ANYONE WHO HAS WAITED FOR TREATMENT IN AN EMERGENCY ROOM or chafed under the less than devoted care of a disinterested doctor will recognize Mr. Lazarescu’s dilemma. A 60-ish widower, living alone in Bucharest with his cats, he feels sick enough one evening to call an ambulance. This is the beginning of a Dantesque journey, flecked with dark and biting humor, deep into the bowels of a big city medical establishment. It’s a story that could take place anywhere and Mr. Lazarescu could be your next door neighbor — or he could be you. THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU is the second feature film from Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu, a former painter and self-described hypochondriac who credits Eric Rohmer as his inspiration (the film is the first in Puiu’s series, “Six Stories from the Bucharest Suburbs,” inspired by Rohmer’s “Six Moral Tales”), as well as the hit TV series, “ER.” THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU took the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and has won over 30 international film festival awards ever since.

• Coming to Film Forum: Cristi Puiu's film STUFF AND DOUGH
• Interview with director Cristi Puiu in Film Comment magazine
• Alan Riding on THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU from The New York Times, Sunday, April 23, 2006 [pdf]