The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
  • Studio: Tartan
  • Release Date: Apr 26, 2006
User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 28
  3. Negative: 4 out of 28

Review this movie

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. VerbalCant
    Jul 9, 2012
    2
    Watched this scrunched up at the back on a cinema during a film festival. I have never wished anyone in the world dead until half way through this movie. Two and a half hours - were all the Romanian editors on strike? Yes I know life is bleak and death is lonely and futile, but a little part of me did not have to die in the cinema for me to know that.
  2. RoryP.
    Feb 21, 2008
    9
    Excellent. No doubt about it. Me being a conventional lad, I did find the 'naturalistic' pace a bit head wrecking for the first 20 minutes. After that I gave into it and found the whole thing an extremely rewarding experience. very real and moving. The best film I've seen in a long time.
  3. JamieB
    Jul 30, 2007
    1
    Never before have I ever wished death on anyone, but by the end of this film I just wanted Mr Lazarescu to die. Perhaps that was the point. To be honest though if I had wanted to torture myself I would have stubbed cigarettes out on my hand in preference to watching this film.
  4. GabrielS.
    Apr 23, 2007
    9
    This movie was made in 2004, 15 years through Romania's painful transition to free-market economy and all that the 'west' brings with it. Attitudes - so Romanians, in their devoidness of showy love as most westerners are used to - are both bleak and humane and I liked the way Cristi Puiu portrayed that naturalness. Top film. Bitter, but good medicine for the soul.
  5. BogdanP.
    Feb 5, 2007
    10
    The drama on the screen is no more powerful than the real drama. Yet the true power of the movie is that it portrays reality as no one believes it could be. Deeply human. Sad nonetheless.
  6. JasonK.
    Jan 22, 2007
    1
    The most depresssing film I've seen in years, it made me feel ill. Why on earth does it get such a high rating?
  7. CraigS.
    Jan 7, 2007
    10
    Best statement on humanity or lack of humanity that I've seen. It will help turn most viewers into beings who care more for each other.
  8. JenniferM.
    Oct 22, 2006
    6
    I, too, didn't get the humour in it. I found it painfully realistic and bleak. Great performances and highly original though.
  9. PeterM.
    Oct 19, 2006
    10
    Harrowing film depicting the last hours in the life of Mr. Dante (no mistake about that name) Lazarescu, leavened with dollops of back humor modeled on the disconnect between the dialogue and what we see on the screen.
  10. StefanC.
    Aug 31, 2006
    9
    One of the most entrenching films coming from a Romanian director, "Moartea domnului Lazarescu" truly becomes a profound experience throughout its viewing. The drama of daily life, people portayed as people and not their avatars, and the humorous tragedy of Mr. Lazarescu ammount to quite an achievement from Cristi Puiu. Hopefully, only the first in many to come.
  11. RaduH.
    Jun 12, 2006
    10
    it describes the reality from the medical sistem in romania.it is like in the movie.
  12. -Immitation-
    May 11, 2006
    10
    Well written and worth my money.
  13. KenG.
    May 6, 2006
    5
    First half of movie is really slow. There was no reason, other then self-indulgence, that filmmakers couldn't have cut 30 mintues out of this section, giving them a 2 hour movie, rather then 2 and a half hours. 2nd half of movie isn't as slow, but it feels more and more repetitious. I also think filmmakers made a bad call my making this all happen on the night of a terrible bus crash. The emergenacy rooms of big city hospitals tend to be very busy places on any night. If you throw on top of that the kaos that would result from a terrible bus crash, I don't think it's that shocking that someone might be "lost in the shuffle". This would have made a more powerful statement if it had happened on "just another night". I have read about the comedy and the humor that is in this movie, but it's not likely you'll see it. Perhaps the critics could point out the funny parts in their reviews. (and no, I don't need Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler to laugh. In fact I don't think they're particurarily funny. Carrey and Sandler are both better actors then they are comedians). By the end of the end of the movie all I was really interested in was the lesbian relationship that is hinted at between the middle-age paramedic, and the really good looking nurse at one of the hospitals. But unfortunately, movie never gets back to this.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    100
    Mr. Lazarescu is that rich and riveting a film of universal small human moments and big-system failure.
    Read full review
  2. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    100
    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... This is only the second feature of Cristi Puiu, who claims to have been inspired by his own hypochondria, but he's already clearly a master.
    Read full review
  3. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Phil Hall
    70
    Do not, under any circumstance, approach this film lightly. Prepare to be depressed, agitated and shocked. And prepare to see a brilliant work of cinematic art.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »