The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)

Sep 17, 2021

Original Title: Moartea domnului Lãzãrescu

Starring: Ricky, Lanoasa and Piti

Directed by: Cristi Puiu

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: The real-time trials of Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu), a sick elderly man seeking medical help who finds himself shuffled from hospital to hospital looking for a proper diagnosis.

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): The opening scenes take place in Mr. Lazarescu’s dirty apartment where he lives with three cats. He is feeding the brown tabby cat, Mirandolina, when we first see him. She doesn’t seem very interested in the food in her bowl and he explains that it is all he has to give her.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Ion Fiscuteanu holding brown tabby cat Mirandolina
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Ion Fiscuteanu feeding brown tabby cat Mirandolina

Later Mr. Lazarescu walks into the living room where Mirandolina is sleeping on the back of the couch.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - brown tabby cat Mirandolina sleeping on back of couch

He sits down and complains to the cat about feeling sick and even throws up a bit. Amazingly the cat doesn’t move at all until the very end of the scene.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Ion Fiscuteanu sitting on couch with brown tabby cat Mirandolina sleeping on back

Walking into his bedroom, Mr. Lazarescu greets his ginger tabby cat Nusu who is sleeping on the bed. He then turns to pick up a little black cat named Fritz. He places the kitten on the bed, asking where he has been wandering all day and calling him a dog-cat. He is very affectionate with his cats.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Ion Fiscuteanu placing black kitten Fritz on bed with sleeping ginger tabby cat Nusu
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Ion Fiscuteanu placing black kitten Fritz on bed with sleeping ginger tabby cat Nusu
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Ion Fiscuteanu placing black kitten Fritz on bed with sleeping ginger tabby cat Nusu

When Mr. Lazarescu gets sicker, he goes to seek medicine from his neighbors. The husband, Sandu (Doru Ana) complains about the cats and says they are not helping Mr. Lazarescu’s health. Nusu is sleeping on a chair nearby.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - ginger tabby cat Nusu sleeping on chair

After Mr. Lazarescu goes to the bathroom, Sandu picks up Nusu from the chair and scoots him from the room. Moments later the cat appears again and an angry Sandu picks him up by the scruff and locks him with the other cats in the bedroom. When it is determined by the paramedic that Lazarescu should go the hospital, he asks Sandu to look after this cats for him.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - ginger tabby cat Nusu being picked up from chair by Sandu

The cats were played by Ricky, Lanoasa and Piti. They are even featured on the poster for the film (although these seem to be different cats and not the feline actors actually in the movie).

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Ion Fiscuteanu placing black kitten Fritz on bed with sleeping ginger tabby cat Nusu

Final Mewsings: If you lived in such a dirty apartment you’d probably sleep all the time, too!

Many thanks to Mark Murton for letting us know about the cats in this film.

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