El și-a pus cafea în ceașcă

After suffering terrible headaches and stomach cramps, Mr. Lăzărescu, a lonely 63 year-old man, calls for an ambulance, beginning one man’s hellish journey through Bucharest hospitals in search of proper medical care. As the night unfolds, his health starts to deteriorate fast.

In the Romanian town of Craiova, five hundred elderly people are passing their days in a home, for which they pay with their paltry pensions. Every day looks the same, every activity is predictable. Even the people‘s complaints are part of the daily routine. One of the residents hopes in vain that a lottery ticket will bring him refuge. For six days, filmmakers Andreea Paduraru and Cristi Puiu try to get through to these people, who are carrying their whole past on their backs. To the question what the best days of their lives was, nobody can or wants to give an answer. Nearly everyone immediately starts about the day-to-day worries and problems in the home. Finally, one woman tells about her activities as head of the research department of the government of Ceausescu, with whom she once had an argument. Another resident recalls his time as a soldier in World War II and proceeds to the order of the day.

Confused about her upcoming wedding and unsure about her future husband, Laura sets out to find answers on a trip to the beach with her sister.

Ana and Paul are trying to take advantage of a break at work to go shopping at a home and garden store. Paul is on the phone the whole time, while Ana strikes up a conversation with a salesperson. Is his help more than just a kind gesture?

Chronologically, night by night, you can feel like you are there for the shooting of the film, next to the director, the actors, the director of photography, the sound engineer and all the others that created the story of Mr. Lazarescu. A making of that answers the questions raised by “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu”, a film by Cristi Puiu, which became a cult-film.