Press Release
A Black Comedy With Serious Side Effects

One of the year’s most acclaimed films, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, comes to DVD from Tartan Video on September 12th

Official Romanian Selection for Best Foreign Film at 2006 Academy Awards© and winner of the Grand Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes

**** Four Stars!
-Roger Ebert/Premiere/Paste/Chicago Tribune/Newsday.com

“Grade A. Extraordinary…rich and riveting…”
-Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

"A magnificently damning critique on healthcare... done with a devil's sense of humor that then calls you out on your laughter."
-Aaron Hillis, Premiere

“One of the best movies in years—hilarious, dazzingly made!”
-John Powers, Vogue

“A mysteriously mesmerizing voyage.”
-David Ansen, Newsweek

“A wonderfully humane film, engrossing and moving.”
-Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail

LOS ANGELES — May. 18, 2006 — For Immediate Release —   After multiple film festivals, scores of awards and accolades and a critically-lauded 2006 theatrical release, the most acclaimed comedy of the year, director Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, will find its final resting place on DVD in stores nationwide September 12th from Tartan Video.

After suffering terrible headaches and stomach cramps that he can no longer bare, Mr. Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu) calls for an ambulance, beginning one man’s poignant journey through Bucharest hospitals in search of proper medical care. His lone ally, medic Mioara (Luminta Gheorghiu), admirably fights for his life with compassion and decency.  However, cursed with viciously ironic luck and fumes of alcohol on his breath, Mr. Lazarescu is treated with scorn, indifference and little else as he slips deeper into oblivion.

An official selection of over 25 film festivals including Cannes, Toronto, and New York and the official Romanian selection for Best Foreign Film at the 2006 Academy Awards©, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu has been acclaimed the world over.  Along with the prestigious Grand Prix Un Certain Regard Award from Cannes, the film also won the Special Jury Prize at the Chicago Film Festival and the Fipresci Award at the Palm Springs Int’l Film Festival. 

The film has caused an eye-opening re-examination into the world of healthcare.  Hospitals and universities have begun showing the film to students in order to raise awareness to the questions and concerns surrounding emergency room care.

Romanian, with English and Spanish subtitles, The Death of Mr. Lazarescuis presented in anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS Surround Sound 5.1. Special DVD features TBD, but will include Original theatrical trailer; Trailers of Tartan Video’s upcoming releases.

Hamish McAlpine, the founder and owner of Tartan Films, who are celebrating twenty one years of distributing films in the UK, launched Tartan USA in 2004 with an eclectic and controversial slate of films from established auteurs and up-and-coming filmmakers.  Previous Tartan film releases include 2004 Cannes Grand Jury Prize Winner OLDBOY, the sincerely creepy A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, Michael Winterbottom’s 9 SONGS and Takashi Shimizu’s MAREBITO. The latest releases include the final film in Park Chanwook’s “Vengeance Trilogy”. LADY VENGEANCE. For more information, visit www.TartanVideoUSA.com