Luminita Gheorghiu plays a patient and caring ambulance medic who is drawn into the deteriorating plight of a belligerent old man. We start with him having a bad headache and vomiting. He feels that it is something more serious than the pain caused by his ulcer and the hangovers caused by his regular excessive drinking. He calls for an ambulance, and after convincing the skeptical dispatcher that he is not simply drunk, he begins the long wait for help to arrive. Mioara finally arrives and after ascertaining that Lazarescu has been drinking to excess, she considers giving him an aspirin and going on her way, but a quick examination shows that the old man is in severe pain, and she begins to suspect that he is gravely ill. Thus begins a long, unpleasant journey from one hospital to another, as Lazarescu faces a backlog of patients caused by a massive traffic accident, and the cold indifference of arrogant doctors who appear hesitant to cure a man who has seemingly destroyed his own health.
It is a moving film with enough cynical humour to make you laugh and despair at the same time. It touches on a few raw nerves when we look at what our own health system is becoming. Well worth the view.
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