"CONTINENTAL '25 functions like a snapshot of a city as fragmented and desperate as Rossellini's Rome: Jude's interpretation of the Neoreal
In Cluj, the capital of Transylvania, Orsolya, a member of the Hungarian minority, works as a bailiff. When she has to carry out a forced eviction in a house that is to make way for a luxury hotel, a tragedy takes place before her eyes. Tormented by feelings of guilt, she quickly cancels the long-planned vacation with her family and tries to talk to various people. But neither her husband, her best friend, a surprise meeting with one of her former students, nor confession to an orthodox priest can resolve Orsolya's moral dilemma...
The new tragicomedy by Radu Jude (BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD) is a homage to Roberto Rossellini's EUROPA '51, shot on the iPhone, about the contradictions and hypocrisies of modern Europe. On the one hand, Cluj becomes the scene of an upswing in tourism and the construction industry; on the other, CONTINENTAL '25 reveals how poverty, homelessness and nationalism are normalized there. Is Orsolya, the lovable heroine of the film, the only one who has retained her humanity?
Romania 2025, length: 109 min.
Written & directed by Radu Jude
