By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Radu Jude
Starring: Alexandru Potocean | Andi Vasluianu | Claudia Ieremia | Katia Pascariu | Nicodim Ungureanu | Olimpia Malai
Original language title: Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc
Country: croatia, czech_republic, luxembourg, romania, switzerland, united_kingdom
Year: 2022
Running time: 106
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14033502/reference
Brett says: “BAD LUCK BANGING… is quite the enigmatic little film that plays out in an avant-garde format. Prior to viewing the film, I made a mistake in seeing a very small blurb about the film that described its narrative. That description, paraphrased, read something like the following: Emi, a Romanian school teacher, finds herself under community scrutiny after a personal sex tape she made leaks on the internet. However, none of that adequately prepares a viewer for what the film actually seems to be about. In my case, I had to reconfigure my expectations 12-15 minutes or more after the first scene after realizing this is not conventional cinematic storytelling, and it likely would’ve heightened the effectiveness of those first 15-20 minutes of the film if I had that mentality coming into it rather than accidentally seeing a well-meaning, yet altogether incomplete opening blurb about the film’s content.
“Submitting a review with such a title might make one second-guess himself/herself or subconsciously look over one’s shoulders, and in doing so, a portion of one the themes of this film manifests. If you’ve made it this far, you are surely already aware of the film’s depiction of graphic (what’s the word for slightly above graphic?) sex acts; if not, there is your trigger warning before handing your ticket to the usher. What you might not know already, however, is that the film is divided into three distinct acts along with a coda. Going into it and expecting narrative flow and revelation, one might view the first act and come out of it responding with, ‘my, oh my, there certainly is a lot of walking.’ However, filmmaker Radu Jude masquerades plenty of cultural and historical implications amid the facade of the ‘leaked sex tape’ conflict. Emi, the protagonist at the center of the controversy, works to mend this digital accident, traversing throughout the city with plenty of wide angle, long shots that keep her a distance and an abundance of curious low angle shots. With the photographic choices juxtaposing this central conflict, the film serves up collateral food for thought as if each of our life catastrophes and slip-ups are all simply just relative. The low angle shots themselves almost mockingly make it seem like the vessels of mock tragedy being targeted are all so high and mighty in their own little worlds. The city at large—its buildings, its resident predecessors, its geopolitical history—could care less about the domestic crisis of one insignificant individual. Yet, all around Emi are an abundance of citizens ‘in crisis’ who don a sense of faux importance and authority as Emi tries to slither out of her own perceived calamity.
“As if that’s not enough to get a viewer to lean in and scratch one’s head, an even more disconcerting second act follows. In this act we leave behind the central ‘narrative’ and experience a montage of observations, commentaries, and wit-driven slaps at society and culture, all in a fragmented montage. While there certainly is a level of insight attached to this format and the subsequent comments and use of juxtaposition in the layered observations, much of this act came across a little too reminiscent of what one might see on social media like Twitter on a daily basis, just in a cinematic montage that gives it a little more artistic thrust (no pun intended). For a film that was a bit more subtle in the opening act, this felt a little more ‘high horse’ and distantly snarky for my liking, the kind of disdain and esoteric judgment you might find from plenty of people who sign up for a free ‘@’ symbol.
“If you don’t ‘unfollow’ director Radu Jude by the time you advance to the third act, the film then rewards conventional narrative patience and offers a more standardized storytelling format. Emi is finally put on trial, so to speak, and the satire takes on a more recognizable form. Veiled within, however, there are still notable moments where the film’s less obvious themes are woven into this central conflict, a very nice thematic pièce de résistance. Many of the second act ridicules make their way into this final act under the guise of a community vs. teacher impropriety scandal. Don’t worry though, there are plenty of more obvious laughable jabs at society that are also included in the lambasting community scene as well.
“It would be empty for a review not to mention the use of the pandemic in the setting of this film as well. While over the last two or how ever many years it’s been now, we have been accustomed to narrative influence in some films related to the pandemic, this particular COVID-19 pandemic setting seems to serve mostly as a harder hitting satirical dig at our society. How that plays out is up for interpretation, but there does seem a fair amount of ‘blame it on the pandemic’ references toyed with in this film that seems to be rife with observations about how so many things are all a matter of perspective. Not to worry though; it’s not all about the pandemic, as themes of conspiracy theorists, viral media, fascism, internet culture, learning, and tradition all make appearances as well.
“All in all, this is a film with too many seams showing for my personal tastes, but that certainly appears to be the intent and not by happenstance. Overall, it seems to be a film that knows it is jagged, bumpy, and bit uneven. But, this can be expected in such a film that is meant to provoke audiences in an experimental way.
“Recommended for those that like their films on the confrontational side.
“Not recommended if you’re looking for conventional storytelling after reading a description of what the narrative portion of the film is about.”
Chris says: “A farce, obviously, but it reflects real life absurdities well. Even though ultra-specific in its nods to Romanian culture, one can easily imagine the basic structure translating nearly anywhere–that is, as long as the one helming it has as firm a grasp of it, expert timing and laughs at taboos as mercilessly as Radu Jude. Incidentally, I unknowingly watched the censored-with-placecards version on Hulu. While learning this after the fact initially pissed me off, it’s still an effective way to view this, as the audio gives one a pretty good idea of what you can’t see (depending on your squeamishness towards porn, you may not want to see it), not to mention one of the best final shot freeze-frames ever. 3.5 cats“