The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

The picture says it all. Mr Lazarescu loves his cats - and when forced to leave for hospital will miss them greatly. This image and the film is anything but comic - it is deadly serious for all concerned as Romanian Director Cristi Puiu exposes brilliantly the flaws of the health service from the view-point of our 63 year old widower as he is forced to endure the undignified trauma of not being wanted by the staff at nearly all the city's hospitals being mercilessly transported in the ambulance from hospital to hospital. The skill is in the engrossing way the tale is told - but the tag-line "A black comedy with serious side-effects" although appealing is misleading as we see from watching the film. The hospital buildings are not the problem - it is the staff employed within them that make or break them and what we witness here is a lesson in how not to staff your hospital (apart from the final visit by which time our patient is barely conscious) This is in no way a comedy but is a great study of humanity or rather the lack of it when it matters most. From the Midlands Arts Cinema with velcro stickers on reverse.