Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, 2021.
Written and Directed by Radu Jude.
Starring Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia, Olimpia Malai, Nicodim Ungureanu, Alexandru Potocean, and Andi Vasluianu.
SYNOPSIS:
Emi, a school teacher, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet. Forced to meet the parents demanding her dismissal, Emi refuses to surrender to their pressure.
NOTE: This review is based on the uncensored, original cut. 20 minutes of footage will reportedly be extracted for US theatrical distribution.
While there is a curiosity as to who uploaded to the Internet a private sex tape without consent involving elementary school teacher Emilia (a dressed and defiant Katia Pascariu, game for anything asked of her here, including an opening unsimulated sex sequence), there’s not much of a concern over punishing the one responsible. In the eyes of the Romanian school staff and revolving parents, Emilia did something wrong. She’s effectively on trial, and her future will be decided by what these people think of her private life. Suffice to say, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn is a mad loopy journey equal parts enraging and wickedly funny.
To give a better understanding of what might be going through the minds of those individuals, writer and director Radu Jude makes a daring creative decision to abandon a second act, replacing it with gallery-like documentary footage charting a crash course in Romanian history, war crimes, religion, sexuality, and general mindsets throughout the years. Granted, some of this feels reasonably obvious but is done so with scathing acidic humor that it somehow becomes hypnotic taking this educational ride.
For those concerned and possibly assuming that the section will be a drag, it’s the first act of Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn that feels a tad self-indulgent and out of focus. The concept of following Emilia through her daily routine in the wake of such a scandal (the fact that the entire sex tape is shown beforehand not only informs but gives the embarrassment, anger, and nervousness of the situation a more palpable weightiness) is a solid one. Almost entirely shot in real-time, there’s a greater sense of these emotions compounding within Emilia’s psyche, with the soundscape of random pedestrians engaging in their drama adding to that bubbling annoyance. However, the direction and Marius Panduru’s cinematography occasionally get carried away, lingering elsewhere, whether it be the architecture of buildings or various commercial products. That’s not to say none of this fits into the grander picture because it does, but in trying to accomplish two things at once, the story starts to lose some of its narrative thrust (pardon the pun) right after its kinky opening.
Still, there’s an anxiety to the performance and surroundings of Katia Pascariu oozing naturalism. Part of that is due to another bold choice; setting these events during the current global health crisis, bearing witness to some lax mask adorning and some crazy conspiracies from those same people. It almost functions as a walk of shame, which is, of course, absurd and infuriating considering there is no shame to be found, only a crime that will likely go unpunished. Emilia has one or two ideas about how the video could have found its way online, but such privacy violations are an afterthought as she marches on to a school board meeting on the defensive and ready to be judged.
The trial itself is where Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn is at its strongest, most emotionally involving, and outrageous. It begins with parents and staff queuing up the video (by one of the parents themselves, as the video itself fluctuates between being taken down and reuploaded elsewhere, speaking to how impossible it is to erase anything from the Internet) and watching the sex tape, frame by frame, directly in front of Emilia, with everyone in the shot. To call it one of the most degrading and humiliating treatments anyone can go through would be an understatement. Unsurprisingly, the debate only spirals further out of control and grows more hostile, with Emilia swatting as many regressive and bad faith arguments that come her way. It’s exhausting by design, often threading the line between insulting and blackly amusing. True to the title, the film ends on the looniest note imaginable, a sequence so unforgettably zany and cathartic it’s deserving of a movie in its own right.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
