MOARTEA DOMNULUI LAZARESCU / THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU
DIRECTOR: CRISTI PUIU
ROMANIA 2005
153 MIN / 35MM, COLOR, OV w. engl. ST

Caligari: 09.04. / 2.30 pm

DIRECTOR:
Cristi Puiu

SCREENPLAY:
Cristi Puiu
Razvan Radulescu

CAMERA:
Oleg Mutu

ART DIRECTOR:
Cristina Barbu

EDITOR:
Dana Bunescu

MUSIC:
Andreea Paduraru

PRODUCER:
Alexandru Munteanu

CAST:
Ioan Fiscuteanu
Luminita Gheorghiu
Gabriel Spahiu
Dana Dogaru
Florin Zamfirescu

PRODUCTION:
Mandragora Movies, Bukarest
Tel.: 0040 - 21 / 252 73 60
Fax: 0040 - 21 / 252 73 60
e-mail: office@mandragora.ro

DISTRIBUTION:
The Coproduction Office, Berlin
Tel.: 0049 - 30 / 327 778 79
Fax: 0049 - 30 / 323 20 91
e-mail: info@thecopro.de

Dante Remus Lazarescu, aged 63, lives on a meagre pension in a drab block of flats. His wife is dead, his daughter has emigrated to Canada, he quarrels with his sister Eva whenever they meet, and he owes money to her husband Virgil. His life centres around three cats, one TV set and mastropol, the strong drink of the poor. One evening, after being plagued all day by headaches and nausea, he realizes he is getting worse, not better. In his distress before the repeatedly called ambulance finally arrives, he seeks help from his neighbours. Like most of the people he encounters that night, however, they condescendingly offer him only what they call good advice. At last the nurse Mioara arrives, and decides the ailing man has to go into hospital. And so begins a humiliating odyssey from one clinic to the next. None of them have space – or time – for Mr. Lazarescu. The fact that his breath reeks of alcohol makes him a second-class citizen for the doctors. Only Mioara pleads for him and for the human dignity to which even alcoholics are entitled. During their nerve-racking tour of local hospitals she argues with her arrogant and cynical superiors. And Lazarescu’s condition deteriorates from ward to ward... Shot in documentary style with a superb cast, Cristi Pujus’ second feature film produces mounting unease in the viewer on the strength of its precise observations and true-to-life script.

CRISTI PUIU
Born on 03.04.1967 in Bukarest, Romania.
In 1992, Cristi Puiu started to study painting at the Ecole Superieure d’Arts Visuels in Geneva, before changing into the film department. Back to Romania, he directed his first feature film MARFA SI BANII in 2001, which won several international prizes. In 2004, his short UN CARTUS DE KENT SI UN PACHET DE CAFEA won the Golden Bear Award for the best short film at the Berlin Film Festival. The film was screened at goEast 2005. His international award-winning second feature film MOARTEA DOMNULUI LAZARESCU was awarded “Un certain regard” at IFF Cannes 2005.

FILMOGRAPHY (SELECTION):
2001 Marfa si banii / The Stuff and the Dough
2004 Un cartus de Kent si un pachet de cafea / Coffee and Cigarettes (short film)
2005 Moartea domnului Lazarescu / The Death of Mr. Lazarescu