From Post-Communist to Post-Human Care A Comparative Study of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and Eden

Abstract

On basis of a comparative close reading of two paradigmatic Eastern European films about precarious lives and acts of care, this article explores the relationship between three distinct but interrelated phenomena: (1) the early 21st century experience of increased precatity and vulnerability, (2) certain philosophical or theoretical trends (such as care ethics and critical posthumanism) that aim to conceptualize this new state of insecurity, and (3) new Eastern European cinematic trends that can be understood as responses to the first two phenomena. The article’s starting hypothesis is that socially committed Eastern European art cinema responds to the social and cultural changes of the times, and therefore expresses a whole set of cultural assumptions about ethical behaviour, the human being’s relation to others, or the possible values that may govern human decisions. By comparing a classic example of the Eastern European social problem film, The Death of Mr Lazaresu with the more recent Eden, the article highlights recent cinematic shifts in the representation of precarious lives. By putting these two films in the context of the Eastern European social problem film, the article explores the ways the 21st century experience of ecological crisis and the cinematic influence of transnational ecocinema may change existing Eastern European cinematic practices, inspiring new, eco-critically informed ethical approaches and definitions of precarity.