No esperes demasiado del fin del mundo, Radu Jude

No esperes demasiado del fin del mundo, Radu Jude, Romania, Luxembourg, France, Croatia, 2023, 163’

Part One: We follow Angela, an overworked production assistant who must drive around the city of Bucharest in order to film the casting for a “safety at work” video commissioned by a multinational company, ostensibly to raise awareness among its own employees on the various dangers that lead to work related accidents. Soon she encounters Marian, a half paralysed worker, who gets the part.

Part Two: When Marian reveals on camera that his work related accident is due to the company’s negligence, his statement ignites a scandal, which forces him to re-invent his story to suit the company’s narrative. 

True to form, Golden Bear winner Radu Jude, sets his absurdist comedic drama in two parts. In a dizzying landscape, cinema, capitalism and technology meet the political sociology of the post totalitarian digital world.