The strange case of Mr. Lazarescu.

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By Alison Willmore on 09/12/2006

Good times. Cristi Puiu's critical darling "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" was given a nominal theatrical release by Tartan Films back in April. We never came across the poster they created, so the DVD cover (the DVD went on sale today) came as a delightful surprise and a testament to the difficulties and sometime silliness of, you know, marketing. Calling the two-and-a-half hour Romanian film about the inability of a dying man to find assistance amidst an uncaring, inefficient national health care system "the most acclaimed comedy of the year" is...technically true, we suppose, in the same way that "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is a mismatched buddy film and "Vertigo" is a cautionary tale about entering into a relationship with the expectations that you can change someone. Also, the cats! Our review of the film from the New York Film Festival last year is here; we do urge you to see the film, though perhaps not to expect a laff riot.

+ The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Amazon)

Cryptic Ned

I noticed this too...and then was shocked to see that the original Romanian poster looks much, much more like a laff riot (see it here).

Alison

That's the most awesome thing ever.

Cryptic Ned

Also, that DVD cover with the cats is exactly the same as the poster that was up at the theater I saw the movie at. That was definitely the American poster.

Matt Singer

The comments on the back of the DVD are equally surprising: several critics are quoted calling it "hilarious." Perhaps this is a case of a company taking quotes out of context, because, Lazarescu is many things but it is not "hilarious." Darkly funny in a sort of grin-or-you'll-start-to-sob sort of way I suppose, but not "hilarious." This is not the Romanian Ricky Bobby, an idea that is, itself, kind of hilarious.