In the world of film, January and February are the proverbial wasteland. Distributors dump their leftover studio fare (see “One Missed Call” and “Rambo”), Oscar-rejects (see “Vantage Point” and “The Other Boleyn Girl”) and utter crap (see “Meet the Spartans” and “Meet the Spartans”).

However, each year also witnesses at least a couple passable films which salvage the otherwise fruitless months. Last year, those films were “God Grew Tired of Us” and “After the Wedding.” For 2008, the past two weeks have offered two such films – “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” and “The Band’s Visit.”

“4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days,” Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s second feature film, takes place during the final days of Ceaucescu’s communist regime. The film follows Otilia (Anamaria Marinca), the perfect friend, who helps her roommate
Gabita (Laura Vasiliu) in her search for an illegal abortion. This perilous journey takes them to the darkest corners of society and, as they come to find, themselves.

What is fantastic, important and utterly devastating in “4 Months” is the world these characters inhabit. The story seems as if it would be more at home in an Orwellian novel, but the realism that has come to define new Romanian cinema creates an utterly devastating look at real people making unbelievably affecting choices.

With heartbreaking performances by the two female leads, as well as a calculatingly cold supporting turn by Vlad Ivanov as a blackmailing, back-street abortionist, the film is unflinching in its terrifying look at nightmares come to life. Deliberately measured pacing only adds to the film’s tension as it builds to its bleak indictment of the most disturbing failings of society.

An added bonus? The film avoids any kind of moral commentary of the issue of abortion and, instead, focuses on moral failings of, the film argues, a higher order.

“The Band’s Visit,” on the opposite end of the spectrum, is a lighthearted dramedy about a small Egyptian police band that travels to Israel to perform. Shortly after arrival, the stubborn and old-fashioned Lieutenant Colonel realizes the band is lost. In a foreign country with whom relations are less than friendly, the band has no choice but to accept the kindness of the locals for overnight accommodations.

Even an attempt to present a plot overview in any more detail would be degrading to the film, however. The film focuses on and glorifies the small moments that define us. Through nothing more than personal interaction, director Eran Kolirin crafts a subtly humorous social commentary on conditions in the Middle East; but, more than that, he delivers hope that things can be better. During a time when tension in the Middle East is at its highest, “The Band’s Visit,” which was banned in Egypt due to such conflicts, beautifully shows that regardless of race, religion or creed, what unites us is our humanity.

Inexplicably, both films missed out on Best Foreign Film Oscar® nominations for 2007. “The Band’s Visit” was deemed ineligible due to too much of the English language, while the absence of “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” has film enthusiasts baffled. This is most certainly due to the fact that the AMPAS committee on foreign films is made up of a disproportional majority of old fogies traditionalists.

And yet, both films are far better than any nominated foreign film, and, more importantly, offer hope, even in their bleakest moments, for the possibility of a better world. I don’t know about you, but, in times like these, I more than welcome messages like these, especially on the global scale.

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