Romanian film review: Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn & Eden

Cinemas have opened in Bucharest and other cities, and they show two of the year’s most thought-provoking releases: Radu Jude’s Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc / Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn and Á gnes Kocsis‘ Eden.

Bad Luck Banging has been much-awaited, especially after its big win at the Berlin International Film Festival in March, and what a joy to have a chance to watch it in a cinema with others because it is a hoot. Jude’s comedy is a cheeky reckoning with the present times and the many local forms of prejudice and hypocrisy.

It follows a history teacher at a prestigious Bucharest school, Emilia (Emi) Cilibiu, after her sex video was uploaded online. The film is structured in three chapters. The first one features said video (boy, is everyone in for an explicit surprise here) and the heroine walking through the city on her way to a crisis meeting at school with parents via a stop at the headmistress. Anyone who has lived a while in Bucharest will both chuckle at the unflattering picture of a crammed, aggressive city and be instantly shaken by its memory because Bucharest traffic does not bring out the best in people. The pandemic with its restrictions and conspiracy theories makes the city even crazier and for the audience a fun, fast ride. Once Emi is at school, there is of trial by parents, where she not only has to defend her right to privacy and prove that her actions did not corrupt the poor children but she also has to fend off all possible attacks from a group of self-righteous, hateful, prudish, and downright stupid people. There is no problem left untouched here: racism, sexism, antisemitism, you name it. Emi keeps her cool throughout, and the film offers three possible endings to her ordeal. One of them is completely unleashed and bonkers, your jaw will drop and you will scream in laughter or horror, or both.

Sandwiched between these parts is a delightful glossary, a list of terms relevant for the film and generally for life. Jude is at his most sarcastic and unforgiving but also typically sharp and hilarious when he defines children as “the political prisoners of their parents”. This playful, erudite part is the film’s best bit, and it alone would make Bad LuckBanging a must-see. If the film is generally not the most subtle, particularly at the end, it is without a doubt smart and topical in every sense, even pandemic-wise. It is also very entertaining, a great film to kick off the new opening of cinemas.

Eden