To be transparent, I am Pro-Choice. I understand if you get to the end of this article (or even this paragraph) and choose not to acknowledge my opinion on the abortion debate (though I ask you to listen to someone more knowledgeable than I). I have no personal interest in having a child and am very naïve to the benefits that organizations like Planned Parenthood have provided beyond pregnancy. With that said, I’ve grown continually sympathetic to the struggles of women and support their right to do with their bodies what they will. Frankly, I don’t think men should regulate any part of their rights as they don’t understand them even if they study it in school. They may come to understand their wants, but it’s not the same as living day to day and experiencing it on a personal level.
I do not personally know those fears of being easy targets for assault or being undermined solely because of your gender. I recognize them, but I wouldn’t call the struggles of being autistic and talked down to entirely similar. It’s the result of a patriarchal society, one that has felt especially vocal in the past few years as they fear their hold on power is dwindling. It’s especially true in conservative states, which do everything to hold onto power by gerrymandering and passing laws that exist essentially to hold back opportunities from groups they deem inferior. It seems like a farce that any leader would openly do that and expect a voter turnout, but then again I’m from California. For all of our flaws, there’s at least some attempt at compassion.
The choice to watch 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) spawned from current events. At the time, news broke that Texas officials were passing some of the most severe anti-abortion laws in decades, overturning Roe Vs. Wade, and making it legal for people to snitch on people getting abortions and potentially win $10k. It was so ridiculous at one point that even accomplices like a random Uber driver who drove you could be fined as well. Given that The Supreme Court wasn’t quick to call B.S. on this, it only made the idea of a domino effect seem hauntingly relevant.
After all, one merely needs to look at the amount of Transgender Anti-Rights Bills that have been pushed through in the past few years, or months where it’s more accelerated than ever. One success paves the way for more hateful legislation passing. At the core is a lack of understanding around human rights, of respecting people for their identity. While the abortion debate is one that’s been around seemingly forever, The Pro-Birth Movement have rarely been this shameless, this so desired to put a woman through potential hell and not reward them with consistent care for that child when born, likely calling them “Welfare Queens” or “Leeches” instead of addressing the problems. Given that California is on the verge of a very unjust recall election that risks putting conservative forces in power, certain safeties shouldn’t be taken for granted.
It’s true that there has been some pushback. The President has openly denounced Texas’ plans. There’s some legal action that is trying to get off the ground. Meanwhile, The Texas Governor has responded with the rather telling suggestion that he will stop rape by hunting down the rapists and arresting them. It would be comical if it wasn’t so telling of how unwilling he was to just let women have some iota of control over their future. Sure, condemn the men for their heinous actions, but find more empathetic measures than illegalizing abortion and suing women who are already in compromised positions.
I stand with the women who are fighting for their rights, who have some actual stake in this fight. They deserve much more respect for the sacrifices they make. Having relatives with loving children, I recognize that having children is such a commitment even in the best of standards. They have good and bad days, and those not ready may suffer psychological abuse either to themselves or to the children on top of financial burdens and sacrifices. I’m not saying that every story is the same, but their struggles can be when cornered into situations that basically are designed to think lesser of them.
In the 21st century, I have noticed two distinct waves of movies centered around pregnancy. During 2007, the films Knocked Up (2007), Waitress (2007), and Juno (2007) were all films that explored the topic from a standpoint that can be called “safe,” meaning that the baby is born and everyone goes home happy. Any talk about abortion is laughed off or feared.
The second wave is easily the more interesting one and reflective of a changing industry, where women are more in control of their own narratives. Between 2020 and 2021, the films Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), Unpregnant (2020), Plan B (2021), and False Positive (2021) were all released and take more nuanced looks at the sacrifices women take in pregnancy despite sometimes existing in a similar ribald comedy mode. Not only that, but it was reflective of a more diverse perspective than the conventional white woman.
In some respect, the movies released 14 years after 4 Days, 3 Weeks and 2 Days are strangely more connected to the type of conversation the dark Romanian film is having. I’d argue that Unpregnant and Plan B are even the most similar in that they reflect harrowing sacrifice against a cruel, judgmental world. However, there’s generally been one difference between how they end. Compared to 4 Days, the American counterparts are flippant. Their narratives around abortion may feature struggles, but the actual procedure itself is glossed over. Even Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which does an incredible job of portraying the whole process, makes the outcome seem pleasant. It’s true that director Eliza Hittmann wanted to break away from the taboos of abortion clinics, and she does plenty right in that regard.
But 4 Days is a front to back nightmare. While I understand that a lot of what I’ve said so far hasn’t really applied to the film or even the Communist Romania that it’s depicting, it does feel like a good warning call. In sometimes literal painful detail, the film shows what abortion can look like when means are even more restrictive, where it’s outlawed and even the clinician seems to be judging you. Maybe it’s not for the action itself, but the meager sum it takes to perform it. It’s the sense that so much goes into it that getting the nerve to even knock on the right door is somehow emotionally easier. The idea of being caught is horrifying, sitting surrounded by a crowd who may disown you if you so much as announce your “shame.”
The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2007 and made director Cristian Mungiu’s vision one of the most acclaimed films of the decade. While it didn’t fare well in America by comparison (let’s just say Juno was the only pregnancy movie at The Oscars that year), it did create a fascinating look at a terrible subject. Mungiu sought to make the movie as realistic as possible, showing every detail with such clarity that it almost feels like we’re there, witnessing the actions and having to determine for ourselves what we would do as we looked at the remains, bloody in a towel and waiting for disposal. What would we do without any proper care?
It’s definitely one of the more difficult films to watch, if just because of how directly it dehumanizes the protagonist. She starts surrounded by a community, so organized within the hallways of a building that mere codes can lead to exchanging goods. It’s a survival technique that feels familiar, where a support group makes the day easier to get through. Starting here feels important because even in a Romania that is oppressed and facing limitations, there is that sense of comfort. You’re not alone in the world in the grand scheme of things, even if what follows is one of the most isolating experiences a woman can go through.
Outside it feels like everyone is watching, where they might willingly throw you in jail for committing a “crime.” Looking for answers is difficult, and finding them requires navigating a metaphorically underground market, talking to different communities in their own hallways, hiding from prying eyes, waiting for enough security to really open up the topic. The nervousness around finding the right person is difficult. Having the financial backing is even harder, especially when small obstacles come up, or you’re 300 shy of the asking price. Nobody believes you, thinking you’re wasting their time or spending money frivolously. The pregnancy suggests a looseness that makes it difficult for men to take seriously.
As far as depictions go, I don’t honestly know that there’s been a film as faithful to its vision of an illegal abortion quite like 4 Days. It starts with the familiar line of questions, itself prodded with technicalities such as how long into the term she is. It determines what procedure she will take. Then there’s the waiting and the eventual act itself. While Mungiu doesn’t show certain parts of the abortion, it’s still present in the room, watching the faces react to everything happening. There’s a lot of medical terminologies, so many moments of uncertainty even as it’s being performed. It’s tense, creating an intimate yet vulnerable moment that captures the desire to get it over with, to put it behind, even if there’s a sense that it will emotionally scar her.
Not emotionally scar her in the sense that she regrets the action, but more that the whole act that makes up the last hour of the film is downright uncomfortable. Being judged for being pregnant is uncomfortable. The procedure is uncomfortable. The conversations can be maddening. It is all a special kind of terrible, and yet it’s no match for the finale, where things really embrace the sacrifice a woman must make just to put this awful thing behind her.
It’s there in the fetus, lying bloody in a towel. The camera lingers on people working around it, discussing the next steps to everything. The audience becomes amazed at the sight of this thing, itself reminiscent of a horror movie. However, it’s no match for what’s to come, where she must dispose of the body herself in the dead of night, someplace where dogs will not pick up a scent or where even one stray person will see her. It’s the type of scene where even the chill of the air puts the viewer on edge, fearing that what follows may result in severe persecution.
To be fair, there’s a lot more emotional complexity to the characters in the movie, but it’s difficult to really discuss without getting to the heart of what makes it stand out. Even in a canon of pregnancy cinema, it is one of the few that feels like it’s taking chances and exposing the downsides to illegal abortion. I do not believe that America is nearly as dangerous in this regard to Communist Romania, but again I don’t know what we could become if Texas’ law inspires more sociopathic ideas to become legal. Luckily, for now, there is a President who doesn’t seem hellbent on finding that out.
Obviously, this is a difficult movie to watch even if it’s arguably not the most graphic movie imaginable. Yes, there are moments that will sear into your brain, making you think of the matter on a deeper measure. It’s an essential film that finds empathy in the struggle while pointing out how much it feels like the world is against you, pushing you into a hole that you may never get out of. While American cinema has done plenty to destigmatize the process, 4 Days, 3 Weeks and 2 Days ultimately feel essential for showing what is at risk if resources are taken away, if law fully dictates what a woman can and can’t do. One can hope that things change for the better soon, if just for their sake.
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