BBC Culture has made a list of 100 greatest foreign-language films, and a Romanian movie from 2007 is on it. The list was compiled after the publication polled 209 critics from 43 countries.

The Romanian abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days directed by Cristian Mungiu is at number 47 on the list. The film won the Palme d’Or in 2007. It later received several awards as best film of the year from various international associations of film critics, and also won the European Film Academy awards for Best Film and Best Director.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days tells the story of a young woman seeking to have an abortion in 1980s communist Romania, which was illegal at that time. The movie was also included on BBC Culture’s list of the greatest 100 films of the 21st Century.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZisE16JBUMA

The list of the greatest foreign-language films includes 100 productions from 67 different directors, from 24 countries, and in 19 languages. 27 of the highest-rated films are in French, followed by 12 in Mandarin, and 11 each in Italian and Japanese. At the other end of the scale, several languages were represented by just one film, such as Belarusian (Come and See), Romanian (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), and Wolof (Touki Bouki), according to BBC Culture.

Seven Samurai (1954), directed by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, tops the list. The next two films in the top are Bicycle Thieves (1948), directed by Vittorio de Sica, and Tokyo Story (1953), directed by Yasujirô Ozu.

Find the full list here.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photo source: IMDB)