This Romanian comedy-drama is about a history teacher in a prominent secondary school, who is unfortunate to have her sex tape with her husband leaked on public porn sites. Her life is thrown into shambles when the video reaches her colleagues and the parents of her students.
But she refuses to give in to the pressures of society. The film is supposed to show the sexist nationalist and communist aspects of Romanian society. The film also depicts a time amid a pandemic. Directed and written by Radu Jude, the film stars Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia, and OlimpiaMalai.
The film had its worldwide premiere at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March, 2021. It won the Golden Bear in the main competition section. It is the third Romanian film to win the Golden Bear over the last nine years. The film is credited to have used the pruriest way to highlight the hypocrisy of social norms.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn: Filming Locations
The film is shot in Bucharest between August and September, 2020. Marius Panduru served as the Director of Photography.
There seems to be a creeping fascination in the opening scene. As Emi (played by Radu Jude) trudges through the streets, attending to her daily errands, the camera pans away from her and films seemingly irrelevant and spurious objects.
It takes notice of what surrounds our main character, what makes up her day-to-day life. The details almost pile up – torn posters, ruined buildings, things thrown away, etc. We, as the audience are made to realize, perhaps for the first time all the meaningless clutter around us.
Here is what makes the movie that much more impactful – its real locations and the moments of city life captured in its frames.
Bucharest, Romania
Filmed wholly in Bucharest, the movie depicts some of the city’s old charm. Producer, Ada Solomon revealed that the production process had to be changed completely. It was initially planned for a mid-autumn shoot, but the project had to be preponed by nearly two months when it became clear in summer that the pandemic was here to stay.
The shooting was carried out with a limited crew and the idea of integrating the story with the current situation was decided on. They had the cast wear masks on screen and the shooting locations were moved from indoors to outdoors. All precautions were taken to continue shooting safely since Romanian authorities were very particular about it.
Most of the scenes are shot in the city’s streets. Primary locations in the city include Lipscani and Macca-Vilacrosse Passage. The latter is predominantly shown in the arcade city scenes. The movie is a very typical Romanian city life.
A lot of unplanned moments from city life have been captured in the movie as the camera was noticed by common passersby. Perhaps this is what gives the movie its documentary-like feel.
The movie is a slap in the face of everything petty and mean, boredom, and most importantly, hypocrisy.