I am not asking about your own personal views on the subject, but whether you think this film maker was pro-choice or pro-life?
I have watched this and it seems to me to be a pro-life take on the subject. I think the overly long shot of the fetus seemed really out of place, and overly graphic. If this had not been in the film I think that I might feel differently.
Any thoughts?
I think it was pro-choice.
sharePro-Choice... The whole point of the movie, to me, seemed to show the how grueling the process of getting an illegal abortion is; make it legal and safe.
shareLike all good art, this movie does not advocate for one cause. It is neither pro-life nor pro-choice. Good art does not deliver solutions, it just raises the problem. It shows you the facts. You have to decide for yourself.
Besides, I even believe that this movie is not about abortion. The final line, something like "we should never mention it again", is easily read, at least by people who lived under communism, on a wider perspective. It is a film about an epoch, about lack of freedom, about dignity, strengh, weekness...
That is what makes it good, so don't make it sound like a piece of propaganda, pro-this or pro-that!
thats all very nice but everyone knows that art is there for you to decide the meaning. and this thread is about what YOU think the movie said and, if you were actually smart instead of just trying too hard, you would realize that art is made to be interpreted thats why what you call "good art" dosnt have just one message. and even art that does have a specific message(i think most people would disagree with you and say many artists do have a message in mind for most of their pieces) can still be great art, the message isnt what makes something beautiful its the piece itself.
this is what proves
Besides, I even believe that this movie is not about abortion.you really are an idiot talking out of your ass
It is a film about an epoch, about lack of freedom, about dignity, strengh, weekness...what a cop out, those are just a bunch of random words strung together. you could say that about any movie where the protagonist has to overcome any kind of oppression. and 'epoch'? who the hell says 'epoch'? high-minded pricks that think they know are the only people that come to my mind. just say 'moment' jackass.
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If you are still around: "epoch" would say someone who is not a native English speaker. Because I grew up in the same country and the same EPOCH this movie portrays. The fact that you didn't realize that means my English is better than I though - thanks, man!
The rest of your "arguments" are just illogical, as most of the other posts would suggest to you, if you would have the brains to understand what is said.
Oh, boy, now I checked your profile and I am so sorry I wasted my time on someone reviewing movies like the ones you review! So I will just stop here.
Besides, I even believe that this movie is not about abortion. The final line, something like "we should never mention it again", is easily read, at least by people who lived under communism, on a wider perspective. It is a film about an epoch, about lack of freedom, about dignity, strengh, weekness...
I absolutely agree with paulpenet:
"It is a film about an epoch, about lack of freedom, about dignity, strengh, weekness..."
Yes, that's what the film is about. In the communist Romania it wasn't about "pro-choice" or "pro-life", it was about facing unimaginable consequences if you dared to have sex in the country where no birth control existed. It's about the screwd-up reality people had to live in. The film is about what it was like being a woman under socialism : being in love, having a boyfriened, having sex, having hopes - all these things people in the West take for granted were turned inside out in those societies.
lol this movie was clearly neither
shareI don't think it was making any political statement. I think the process of obtaining an abortion and the procedure itself were presented in a realistic way that didn't sugar-coat or romanticise. Its almost if you were going to help a friend get an abortion.
Pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space 'cos its bugger all down here on Earth.
I agree that the film doesn't advocate a stance on abortion. But just out of curiosity's sake, the film's attitude toward abortion hinted to me that it was for its legalization but against its practice.
share[deleted]
I think above all - it was anti-communism film. That message resonated with me stronger & longer than the abortion debate.
shareYou are right, Thirdman. I can tell you one thing: The movie doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the pro-life/choice issue that's been haunting the World since Roe v. Wade. The movie is ANTI-totalitarism.
Communism, the real one, not the boogie man republicans try to scare you with, is a horrible thing. It might look "romantic" and "cool" if you think everybody will have the same things, rights, justice, etc. But no. Communism attacks your freedom, the same way Bush & Co. did after 9-11. You cannot think, you cannot work, you cannot improve. Everything belongs to the state, the party and ultimately a bunch of jerks who are making money out of your misery. Communism attacks your freedoms in the most horrible way: You have to hide your money in socks, you cannot say what you think while the government is screwing you, and fear is all over. It also happens with other dictatorships as well, but Communism is the subject here.
This is a movie about the absence of freedom and the reign of fear in Romania. That girl could have easily got medical attention in a hospital to get rid of the baby at an early stage. She could have got condoms, or birth control pills. She could have had the money and the framework to have the baby. That could have been her freedom, but it was attacked by the system.
Javier H. Moreno
www.cacaorock.com
This was the most powerful, eloquent pro-choice movies I've ever seen.
shareneither, it just paints a realistic picture about life in communist romania. if anything it was just anti-communist: delegates came in over the weekend and they bumped everyone else who had a previous reservation to make room; the clerks being so annoying with regards to identification and knowing where the tenants are; the black market sketchiness; the dilapidated buildings; the lack of legal contraceptives
they didn't mention how gabita got pregnant: she could have been reckless about it, or it could have been an accident. i suppose the only thing that could be a bit pro-choice is when otilia mentions adi came in her even after she said he shouldn't. getting pregnant because you can't get contraceptives and because your boyfriend did something really sleazy and then not being able to abort seems messed up.
as for the long shot of the dead fetus: it was way gross, for sure. it's just there to make the audience go through the same reaction as otilia's when she came in and saw that disgusting, bloody piece of almost human on a towel in the bathroom. it's shock, because otilia (and gabita) must have been shocked.
I agree the film paints a stark, convincing portrait of late-Stalinist Romania. However, while the realistic setting helps make the film believable, I think the message is broader and pretty unambiguously pro-choice.
What the filmakers seem to be telling us is that we do not need to wonder what life might be like for women if abortion were criminalized. Examples already exist. Outlawing abortion would never stop abortions from taking place. Abortions were going on before they were legal, and are performed every day in countries where it remains illegal.
The real consequences of criminalized abortion is it makes women vulnerable to the worst kinds of exploitation. The two women in the film are basically raped by the abortionist; they cannot have him charged for fear of being prosecuted by the state. The long shot of the feotus on the bathroom floor simply adds to the sense of what a squalid, sad, obscene ordeal having an illegal abortion is. In the end, the events are so traumatic, the women can only survive by agreeing never to speak of them. How sad.
Honestly, I'd like every member of Operation Rescue to be duct taped to a chair and forced to watch this film. It paints a vivid picture of the world they, knowlingly or not, are tryint to create.
i think the movie makes it pretty clear that what the three of them did amounts to murder.
i personally dont think abortion should be made illegal, but after watching this movie i now think it is immoral.
But if abortion was legal there's no way in hell she would have waited that long.
The killer awoke before dawn...
think the movie makes it pretty clear that what the three of them did amounts to murder.
I thought it was pro-choice. It showed the horrors and dangers women faced trying to arrange, and then endure, an illegal abortion. I also sensed no regret on the part of the woman who had the abortion; she felt that she did the right thing for herself.
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi