Angela (Ilinca Manolache), an overworked Romanian production assistant, is tasked with filming half a dozen audition tapes with accident victims for a corporate workplace safety video. Angela also takes the time to post scabrous TikTok videos in which she becomes Bobita, a misogynistic clone of Andrew Tate. In the end, Ovidiu gets the part. But when he reveals, during filming, that his accident at work was due to the company’s negligence, his statement triggers a scandal, forcing him to reinvent his story to suit that of the company.
With Do not expect too much from the end of the world, Radu Jude offers a film with the virulent humor typical of Romanian cinema. The film is made up of 3 distinct acts which, despite its 2 hours 43 minutes, never lets the viewer get bored.
The absurd at the service of criticism
After making Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, the Romanian director was under great pressure with the release of his next film, Do not expect too much from the end of the world. Let’s face it, this new feature isn’t quite as accomplished as its predecessor. But the bar was set very high. That being said, the director still delivers a great film.
True to his habit, Radu Jude has divided his comic-absurd drama into parts. In a dizzying landscape, cinema, capitalism and technology meet the political sociology of the post-totalitarian digital world.
Jude has an eye for dealing with those things that society accepts but which make no sense. Whereas the previous film was about sexuality, this one is about totalitarianism, capitalism and violence that is accepted as normal, even funny.
Angela is a fascinating character. As a woman being exploited by her male boss, she spends her time creating ultra-misogynistic Andrew Tate-style videos in which she calls women whores, sluts, inferior races and cum dump for men. Although she says she does it in a satirical way, her subscribers are clearly into this violent trend.
Throughout the story, we meet the victims of work-related accidents that Angela has to film. Which she does without any passion. We see her discomfort in chasing after these victims of negligent companies who refuse to accept their responsibilities. But it’s in the latter part of the film, when we witness the making of the famous video, that the critique of capitalism takes shape. It’s also the shortest part of the film.
Professional amateurism
Jude likes to make his movies look amateurish. The result is sometimes strange. At times, you’re not sure whether the film is bad or great. If you’re not paying attention, or if you’re unfamiliar with Romanian humor, you might indeed think you’re in the presence of an amateur film. But the director knows where he’s going.
Angela, an overworked production assistant, drives around Bucharest filming auditions for a commission from a multinational company. As a result, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (the title quotes an aphorism by Stanislaw Jerzy Lec) is a fragmentary film (part comedy, part road movie, part montage film, part film based on camera action) about work, exploitation, death and the new economy of odd jobs. At the same time, it’s a film that tackles the difficult problem of image production.
Angela (Ilinca Manolache) in her car
We should also mention the use of an old Romanian film from 1981 to create a parallel in his story. He appropriates extracts from the film to create the story of one of the victims Angela encounters. And what would Jude’s cinema be if the link were visible from the start?
If we return to the film’s amateurish appearance, we might think of the grainy image of the sequences from the past, and the camera shots in Angela’s car, always sideways, without movement, not really showing her at her best.
And what can we say about the unnecessary nudity scene at the very beginning of the film, when we don’t come back to any such scene for the next 160 minutes? A way of showing the hypocrisy of cinema.
A little more…
Jude is a must-see filmmaker for anyone interested in political cinema. Exploitation, discrimination and hypocrisy are at the heart of his work; and dialectics are a bomb in his hands. Once again, he’s bold, infuriating and inspiring.
With Do not expect too much from the end of the world he touches on violent polemics, and presents us with a bitterly funny film about the state of lousy capitalism that everyone can relate to.
But be prepared, as the film is long and there are no great action sequences.
Do not expect too much from the end of the world is presented at the VIFF on October 6 and 8, 2023.
