"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" *** (out of four): This tough, unyielding film by Cristian Mungiu, about two women seeking an illegal abortion in Communist Romania, is liable to stick with you for a while.

"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 Luni, 3 Saptamani si 2 Zile)" is destined to be referred to as "that Romanian abortion movie", so let's get that out of the way right now. Yes, "4 Months" about two women - roommates at a Romanian university - who arrange for an illegal abortion in 1987, when the country was still under Communist rule. The film takes place over one harrowing 24-hour period during which we see in painstaking detail the lengths to which these woman will go for this procedure. Abortions were declared illegal in Romania in 1966, causing something of a population boom until the end of Communism in 1989. During these years, women seeking abortions frequently faced brutal conditions. This film, written and directed by Cristian Mungiu, tells one of those stories.

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