By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Radu Jude
Starring: Dorina Lazar | Ilinca Manolache | László Miske | Nina Hoss | Ovidiu Pîrsan
Original language title: Nu astepta prea mult de la sfârsitul lumii
Year: 2024
Running time: 163
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18162096/reference/
Julie says: “A film by Romanian director Radu Jude is a black comedy set in Bucharest, about a gofer named Angela who tours the troubled heart and soul of her country. The movie intertwines and explores the modern gig economy, contemporary internet image-making, cinema’s past, corporate capitalism and the juxtaposition between life under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communism and that in the current EU era. The main story about Angela (adeptly played by a Gaga-esque Ilinca Manolache) is filmed in black and white, with exception of Angela’s foul mouthed misogynistic alter ego podcaster character Bobita, who pops into color whenever he arrives during Angela’s breaks.
“Angela’s main job (among 3 or 4 she is juggling at any given time) entails driving all over the Bucharest countryside and back and forth through the city to audition accident victims for a company safety video. A second film from 1981 ANGELA MOVES ON is intercut into this film often shown in slow motion and in color. The heroine in this film, another Angela, spends most of her time driving around as a Taxi driver. These two films are entangled in a few interesting ways, so pay close attention as if you blink you might miss something.
“There’s a pushy, borderline abrasive aspect to how Jude strings out Angela’s time behind the wheel forcing the viewer to share in her tedium. The movie is overflowing with ideas about history, capitalism, cinema, representation, but it also tests the viewer’s patience before amply rewarding it.
“Late in the film if you have made it this far, Angela has just told her passenger about a road outside the city that has more memorials along it than it has kilometers. The movie then cuts to one after another roadside memorial — some stone, others metal, some with photos, others with flowers, for an astonishing four silent minutes.
“At the end of this montage, if you have chosen to stay along for the ride, it’s all downhill, and worth the pain in getting there.”