THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU. Okay, so the title of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu isn't as appealing as, say, Snakes on a Plane. And the story line, which follows an Eastern European man through a medical crisis, isn't exactly Mission Impossible material. But hey--if you think of the movie as a "very special" feature-length patient-perspective episode of ER set in Romania, well then, maybe this worthwhile film will seem more appealing.

I went into The Death of Mr. Lazarescu expecting that the Romanian health system would appear to be primitive, but I was surprised to find that the medical scene over there seems to have a lot in common with what many of us might encounter in the greater metropolitan area. Under director Cristi Puiu, the actors do excellent work that reminds me of Mike Leigh's ensembles. Patients, doctors, EMTs, and hospital staff are supposed to make health (including life) their priority, but it seems that personalities, schedules, budgets, and bureaucracy can critically interfere with that. Perhaps as with United 93, it's hard to go into the film without a sense of doom, but The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is different in that it represents something absolutely common that many of us can work to improve. It should be required viewing (and discussion fodder) for health care professionals and those responsible for establishing health care policies.

The film is scheduled to run at the Film Forum through May 9, 2006.

Photo (Mihai Bratila, Ion Fiscuteanu, and Luminita Gheorghiu): Tartan Films