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My point in the preceding portion of the paragraph is that the film isn't aiming to have its central polemic (communism was bad for Romania) get in the way of good characterization and good characterization does mean sympathy. I don't think what you quoted blames them, but rather shows them as a symptom of their society. A good society would not have them make the decisions they do.

The specific Morrissey example I was thinking of was Trash which he took as a very right wing critique of junkies who are a burden on society.

knives wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 7:07 pm Perhaps because most audiences of the film are pro-choice and are bringing their own biases to the film?

This.
Enough religious people (who are likely to share Mingui's stated perspective) found something profound in the film that it was voted to the Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films list on Image magazine's Arts and Faith website.

jwd5275 wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:05 am Enough religious people (who are likely to share Mingui's stated perspective) found something profound in the film that it was voted to the Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films list on Image magazine's Arts and Faith website.

As far as religious publications go Image is non-denominational and fairly broad-minded (they currently have an article up criticizing the Methodist Church's denunciation of homosexuality) so I doubt their embrace of 4 Months was based on the grounds that it's some sort of a pro-life movie.

knives wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:50 pm A good society would not have them make the decisions they do.

True, and I would agree the film lends itself to this interpretation in a very general way (communist Romania's repressive social structure is clearly the "villain" of the movie), but this is still a far cry from the film invoking the kinds of pro-life rhetoric ("a fetus is a life," etc.) that Mungiu voices during the Cannes Q&A. It's much to Mungiu's credit that if that is his personal position on the issue he mostly resisted the urge to push it in the film, since I maintain that it really doesn't come through in the film's current form and it's all the better for it.

That's the difference between good and bad filmmaking though, isn't it? It's a bit like how no one has ever treated The Eternal Jew as successful propaganda, but something like Ozu's There Was a Father is a major propaganda success story. The Kirk Cameron film of his statement would be awful, but a true artist can weave a complex tale that more effectively forces the audience to consider its points even if they never go beyond Communism was not good. The film obviously hasn't succeeded, in the west, as a pro-life film, but it did breed a discussion on how communism degraded people.

ianthemovie wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:41 am As far as religious publications go Image is non-denominational and fairly broad-minded (they currently have an article up criticizing the Methodist Church's denunciation of homosexuality) so I doubt their embrace of 4 Months was based on the grounds that it's some sort of a pro-life movie.

Religion is being for mistaken politics here. It may be a a product of working in SF, but most religious people I know here have little problem with homosexuality (in fact defending gay marriage) while remaining pro-life. Despite being politically liberal, they will have an interpretation of the film much closer to Mingiu's stated intention.