This film is part of our winter series, running at De Uitkijk throughout December and January. This year, our winter series focuses on loneliness, but don’t worry, you can still enjoy warmth and good company at De Uitkijk…!
Mr. Lazarescu is a grumpy, grubby, alcoholic man in his sixties with a painful headache. An ambulance picks him up, and thanks to the dedicated but, through experience, also frustrated nurse Mioara, Lazarescu ends up in four different hospitals in Bucharest before anyone treats him. The tragicomic journey takes him past overcrowded hospitals and cold-hearted doctors who want nothing to do with a delirious old man who reeks of urine and vomit (‘Drive him around until he falls into a coma, and then come back’). Unlike his namesake Lazarus, Lazarescu does not wake up again.
Director Puiu follows the sorrowful journey of the dying man through bureaucratic obstacles and jaded medical staff in a documentary style and with a sense of humor. He strikes an excellent balance: the film was praised at various festivals and received the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes.