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The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, 2005
Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu) is an elderly man living alone who one night begins to experience a headache and stomach pains. Eventually calling an ambulance, he is shuttled from hospital to hospital by EMT Mioara (Luminita Gheorghiu). Through the night, various doctors dismiss the pair and push them on to different hospitals and Lazarescu’s condition deteriorates.
This intentionally frustrating drama interrogates the ultimate purpose of health care.
I’ve avoided this film for years because it looks like such an obvious downer. And spoiler (not really): it is! But it’s also a very interesting look at the priorities within society and the healthcare system.
I think that an important aspect of this film is that Mr. Lazarescu is most likely dying. The “death” in the title is not necessarily meant to be interpreted as an avoidable one. All of the different information we learn about Lazarescu as the night goes on is terminal, unpleasant stuff. Mioara thinks he has colon cancer. Another doctor thinks there’s a worrying spot on his liver. The headache is probably much more than just a hangover. So this is not a matter of saving Mr. Lazarescu, and that’s okay. Medicine and care is about more than life. What this film illustrates is not a lack of “saving”, it’s a lack of caring.
Many people have stories about not being listened to medically, and those stories range from annoying (*cough* doctor who told me my severe vertigo was stress *cough*) to harrowing (*cough* doctor who told friend’s sister to stop complaining about her post-C-section pain then it turned out they had not correctly set up her IV and she was literally getting no pain medication *cough*). And I think that it would have been an easy out if this was a movie about a man who just needed the right injection or the right diagnosis. Instead, this is a story about someone who just needs compassion, and a woman battling to advocate for a man who is quickly losing the ability to do any advocating for himself.
Over and over, we watch as the doctors in the various hospitals classify Lazarescu---alcoholic, irresponsible---attempt to dismiss him, and get overtly hostile when Mioara pushes back at their non-diagnoses. Mioara is the hero of the film, sticking by Lazarescu hour after hour, unwilling to release him to the care of anyone who will not pursue actually figuring out what is wrong with him. She puts on an absolutely splendid poker face as she is insulted and put in her place by a series of irate doctors. Lazarescu and Mioara don’t have any special bond, but unlike the other medical professionals encountered on their odyssey, Mioara has compassion for Lazarescu and sees him as a person.
While the doctors and nurses at the other hospitals come off pretty horribly---talking down to Mioara, being outright mean and condescending to Lazarescu---I do appreciate that we get glimpses of how this has come to be the state of affairs. The doctors are all tired and overworked. They are frustrated by patients they see as wasting their time, like drunks who come in, throw up all over, and don’t actually need medical intervention. No, there’s not really an excuse for their behavior (and an imaging expert at one of the last hospitals is very punchable in his treatment of Lazarescu, Mioara, and his assistant), but there are important gestures at the larger systemic problems that lead to such an environment.
This is a harrowing watch---though not without moments of humor!--that effectively makes its point about how people are allowed to fall through the cracks and the absolute injustice that those who are socially isolated can be denied a good death.
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, 2005
Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu) is an elderly man living alone who one night begins to experience a headache and stomach pains. Eventually calling an ambulance, he is shuttled from hospital to hospital by EMT Mioara (Luminita Gheorghiu). Through the night, various doctors dismiss the pair and push them on to different hospitals and Lazarescu’s condition deteriorates.
This intentionally frustrating drama interrogates the ultimate purpose of health care.
I’ve avoided this film for years because it looks like such an obvious downer. And spoiler (not really): it is! But it’s also a very interesting look at the priorities within society and the healthcare system.
I think that an important aspect of this film is that Mr. Lazarescu is most likely dying. The “death” in the title is not necessarily meant to be interpreted as an avoidable one. All of the different information we learn about Lazarescu as the night goes on is terminal, unpleasant stuff. Mioara thinks he has colon cancer. Another doctor thinks there’s a worrying spot on his liver. The headache is probably much more than just a hangover. So this is not a matter of saving Mr. Lazarescu, and that’s okay. Medicine and care is about more than life. What this film illustrates is not a lack of “saving”, it’s a lack of caring.
Many people have stories about not being listened to medically, and those stories range from annoying (*cough* doctor who told me my severe vertigo was stress *cough*) to harrowing (*cough* doctor who told friend’s sister to stop complaining about her post-C-section pain then it turned out they had not correctly set up her IV and she was literally getting no pain medication *cough*). And I think that it would have been an easy out if this was a movie about a man who just needed the right injection or the right diagnosis. Instead, this is a story about someone who just needs compassion, and a woman battling to advocate for a man who is quickly losing the ability to do any advocating for himself.
Over and over, we watch as the doctors in the various hospitals classify Lazarescu---alcoholic, irresponsible---attempt to dismiss him, and get overtly hostile when Mioara pushes back at their non-diagnoses. Mioara is the hero of the film, sticking by Lazarescu hour after hour, unwilling to release him to the care of anyone who will not pursue actually figuring out what is wrong with him. She puts on an absolutely splendid poker face as she is insulted and put in her place by a series of irate doctors. Lazarescu and Mioara don’t have any special bond, but unlike the other medical professionals encountered on their odyssey, Mioara has compassion for Lazarescu and sees him as a person.
While the doctors and nurses at the other hospitals come off pretty horribly---talking down to Mioara, being outright mean and condescending to Lazarescu---I do appreciate that we get glimpses of how this has come to be the state of affairs. The doctors are all tired and overworked. They are frustrated by patients they see as wasting their time, like drunks who come in, throw up all over, and don’t actually need medical intervention. No, there’s not really an excuse for their behavior (and an imaging expert at one of the last hospitals is very punchable in his treatment of Lazarescu, Mioara, and his assistant), but there are important gestures at the larger systemic problems that lead to such an environment.
This is a harrowing watch---though not without moments of humor!--that effectively makes its point about how people are allowed to fall through the cracks and the absolute injustice that those who are socially isolated can be denied a good death.