4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

The first of Cristian Mungiu’s two Palme d’Or-winning films is a nail-biting day-in-the-life thriller that is now emblematic of the Romanian New Wave.

It is 1987 in communist-era Romania and Otilia is on the go. Bursting out of the gates in the morning, she is enlisted by both her roommate and boyfriend for a series of errands: check into a hotel room, buy flowers, meet her boyfriend’s family. And when things do not go to plan, she needs to pivot fast.

As her day progresses and Otilia arrives for a rendezvous with a stranger – another task to check off the list – things begin to take a darker turn.

Curator's note
In the right hands, a thriller doesn’t need spies, stalkers or convoluted assassination plots. There can be suspense in everyday life. In the late stages of Romania’s communist era, under the autocratic rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu, with personal freedoms wound back and the threat of secret police and informants, the simple act of buying cigarettes in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days becomes a covert contraband deal. From there, risks escalate sharply – tensions too.

Based on an anecdote of life during Romania’s communist era, the film was originally envisaged as one part of a larger film collecting stories from that time. That film became Cristian Mungiu’s next, Tales from the Golden Age. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days stood on its own, becoming the first Romanian film to win the Palme d’Or.