Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Movie Storyline. Emi (Katia Pascariu), 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. Radu Jude (Aferim!) delivers an incendiary mix of unconventional form, irreverent humor and scathing commentary on hypocrisy and prejudice in our societies.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn is a Romanian comedy and drama film written and directed by Radu Jude, and produced by Ada Solomon. It stars Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia and Olimpia Mălai. The film had its worldwide premiere at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021 and won the Golden Bear in the main competition section.
It is the third Romanian film to win the Golden Bear in the last nine years. On February 11, 2021, Berlinale announced that the film would have its worldwide premiere at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in the Berlinale Competition section, in March 2021.
About the Story
Emi Cilibiu, a history teacher at a prominent Romanian secondary school, films a sex tape with her husband Eugen, in which they engage in some sexual activities. Eugen uploads the video to a private fetish site, from which it is downloaded and repeatedly posted to public porn sites.
The staff at Emi’s school, as well as the parents of her students, are scandalized by her behavior, and they call her to a parent-teacher conference in the evening of a day soon after the video is widely circulated. Emi spends the day before the conference running various errands and growing increasingly frustrated at the sexist, nationalist, and consumerist aspects of Romanian society, as well as the additional social stressors imposed by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A montage follows, depicting the director’s definitions or thoughts on various related concepts or objects. Some observations are humorous (for social distancing, a clip of a traditional Romanian folk dance modified to comply with distance regulations is shown), some are more bitter (for French Revolution and Romanian Revolution, violent scenes from the events are depicted followed by shots of commercial products named after the events), and some are outright caustic (for efficiency, a 24/7 funeral home is shown, open and attracting a long line, directly opposite a hospital, presumably one that houses coronavirus patients). A few of the definitions involve depictions of graphic nudity or unsimulated acts.
Emi arrives at the parent-teacher conference, where she is informed by a sympathetic administration official that the parents and teachers will be voting on whether or not the school should continue to employ her in light of her supposed “moral transgression;” if a majority vote against her, she will be expected to resign.
The parents, among them a retired Romanian Army lieutenant, a jet pilot with fascist political leanings, a socially conservative priest, a “nice guy” who defends Emi in an attempt to ingratiate himself to her, and a woman who has previously offered bribes to Emi in exchange for higher grades, are generally critical of Emi’s actions. In condemning Emi’s behavior and teaching style, the parents express vulgar and sexist attitudes towards women, Romaphobia, anti-semitism, and question historical evidence Emi invokes to contradict their points.
The film concludes by presenting three alternate endings in sequence. In the first, Emi is “acquitted” by the parents and teachers, leading to a physical confrontation between her and another parent. In the second, she is “convicted,” and resigns without incident. In the third, she is again “convicted,” but transforms into a superhero resembling Wonder Woman. She traps the parents and teachers within a net and forces those who had most harshly opposed her during the conference to fellate a dildo.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021)
Directed by: Radu Jude
Starring: Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia, Olimpia Mălai, Nicodim Ungureanu, Alexandru Potocean, Andi Vasluianu, Ion Dichiseanu, Florin Petrescu, Stefan Steel, Oana Maria Zaharia
Screenplay by: Radu Jude
Production Design by: Cristian Niculescu
Cinematography by: Marius Panduru
Film Editing by: Cătălin Cristuțiu
Costume Design by: Ciresica Cuciuc
Art Direction by: Adeline Andreea Badescu, Andreea Popa
Music by: Jura Ferina, Pavao Miholjević
MPAA Rating:
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: March 2, 2021 (Berlinale), November 19, 2021 (United States)
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