Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

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therewillbeblus
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Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#1 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:59 am

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn

Radu Jude's latest is an even angrier and funnier indictment of culture than I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians, criticizing western civilization on the individual, institutional, and ideological levels as hypocritical ignoramuses, utilizing forceful interventions towards humble right-sizedness against the backdrop of the pandemic, and well, a whole lot more best left unspoiled. The ethereal micro-observations in the first act are recontextualized in friction with macro-concerns in a second act best described as a temporal Godardian essay film functioning like La Flor's fourth chapter (and simply one of the most inspired bits of filmmaking I've ever seen), and then back again, until what we have is a jumbled knot of absurdist sur/realism filtered through the passionate manipulation of art. Jude pushes his examination beyond the current zeitgeist, under the ethos that a true poet must see "human life as both a tragedy and a comedy," and builds his cocktail of social inertia to polarized spaces that prescribe incontestable cynicism in fatal existential hypertension and also grant the kind of fantastical feminist wish fulfillment not even Tarantino could dream up.

I suspect this will (deservedly) go down in history as Jude's magnum opus, but then again, I never could have imagined he could even do something like this with the medium. This joins the recent Ema as a completely unique work that challenges the ways we process information and view the world, and I cannot wait to see how he progresses from here- though I wouldn't be surprised to see him start somewhere else from scratch, since this film translates as Jude's version of Godard's Weekend, an apocalyptic zenith of the possibilities of cinema.

kubelkind
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Re: The Films of 2021

#2 Post by kubelkind » Sat May 22, 2021 9:37 am

therewillbeblus wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:59 am
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn

Radu Jude's latest is an even angrier and funnier indictment of culture than I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians, criticizing western civilization on the individual, institutional, and ideological levels as hypocritical ignoramuses, utilizing forceful interventions towards humble right-sizedness against the backdrop of the pandemic, and well, a whole lot more best left unspoiled. The ethereal micro-observations in the first act are recontextualized in friction with macro-concerns in a second act best described as a temporal Godardian essay film functioning like La Flor's fourth chapter (and simply one of the most inspired bits of filmmaking I've ever seen), and then back again, until what we have is a jumbled knot of absurdist sur/realism filtered through the passionate manipulation of art. Jude pushes his examination beyond the current zeitgeist, under the ethos that a true poet must see "human life as both a tragedy and a comedy," and builds his cocktail of social inertia to polarized spaces that prescribe incontestable cynicism in fatal existential hypertension and also grant the kind of fantastical feminist wish fulfillment not even Tarantino could dream up.
Have to admit, the GREAT title and the feel of up-to-the-minute currency of this made me want to like it a whole lot more than I did, though my experience with Radu Jude so far has been films with admirably lofty ambitions that fall just short of delivering. Yes, the opening segment is a jolt to the senses. After a year plus of watching the people on the other side of the TV screen enjoying the now-unimaginable freedoms of the past, seeing a depiction of the masked throngs shouting at each other for improper social distancing in the street is really something. The central "anecdotes" section really does move things up a notch, especially as it looked like a theme of "social distancing" in wider forms was being developed (a distance from social responsibility implied by the veritable alphabetised buffet of human idiocy and brutality depicted here). Unfortunately, I was brought back down to earth with a groan when we returned to the not-especially-interesting sex tape drama at length in the third section. Especially when
SpoilerShow
what seemed to be a PTA meeting stuffed full of small minded slut-shamers was revealed to harbour a rogues gallery of literal nazis. I know not enough about Romanian politics and society to judge whether this is a fair depiction or not, but it all seemed more than a little on the nose to me. And very boring to sit through.
And the sub-Monty Python ending
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or rather choice of three endings: happy, unhappy and silly
suggested that Jude didn't really know where to take this in its closing section.

That middle bit would have made a great standalone film though. Oh, and one point from a plausibility pedant:
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From what the see of the sex tape, the woman is heavily masked and bewigged, presumably as a body double was used. How the hell did her employees recognise her in it in the first place?

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therewillbeblus
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Re: The Films of 2021

#3 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat May 22, 2021 11:57 am

I'm glad you enjoyed parts of this, if not the whole thing! I do think the third section works marvelously because it follows that change of perspective in the second, but I also believe that the endings work for the same reason, as I'll outline in a moment. It's worth noting that, having worked in therapeutic schools in Northeast U.S. for the better part of a decade with (to be strengths-based) 'strong parent advocates', I don't think any satire has portrayed the western coddling-caregivers' narcissism as right as Jude does here, and that's without the specifics of their history in your first spoilerbox to relate to! Because this is a satire, of course things are going to be exaggerated (and perhaps not always adhering to the 'plausibility pedant' wishes), but the depressing- and hilarious- aspect is that it's not actually that far from where things can go when these folks get into groups. The hiveminded herd mentality that forges power differentials between the parents and providers is pretty spot-on.

I don't know if it's fair to say that Jude didn't know where to take his film at the end, since his central conceit of expression is a reflection of his ethos: essentially an admitted powerlessness in changing people's behaviors or outcomes contradictorily held with an impassioned sense of power to expose his observations publicly. Because he exhibits that unapologetic publicizing of dissonance in a range from serious sobering displays to biting satire
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having multiple endings not only fits within his established tenor, but paired together, they heighten one another's impact. I don't think any of these, or any other ending, would have been as satisfying independently, if it weren't for Jude's Bretchian disruption to introduce the artificiality of what we're about to see. The first silly-happy ending would not hold its weight if it weren't for the antecedent wink that Jude knows this is manipulated absurdity, and the subsequent unhappy ending is the most realistic, but its anticlimactic essence is more despondent following that first descent into farce, when we're jarringly reminded of its impossibility. And the third ending only works as well as it does after the first two, with Jude basically acting as Tarantino's self-reflexive confession in Once Upon a Time.. in Hollywood, dangling reality and fantasy for us instead of merely the latter, and choosing the fantasy to demonstrate a pathos of our corporeal powerlessness, yet fervent drive to gain power where we can to achieve justice, with the magic of the movies.
So I think it's precisely how he intended to end his film, and actually where the strengths of the film lie- in this transparent manipulation of methodology in overall formal structure tweaked for the finale structure, which provoke intellectual and emotional responses far better than they would without the forced sensitivity from comparative segments. Otherwise it may just be a familiar satire, but Jude elevates this to a whole other level with how he admits his impotence in delivering catharsis through normal means, and then doubles down to achieve it his own way. Since he accepts that he cannot end his narrative in any conventional manner, he chooses the most authentic path, in all its irony, ferocity, hilarity, and creative jubilation.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#4 Post by swo17 » Sat Jun 26, 2021 9:19 am

This is the only film I ever want to see about COVID, even if it's really more about how the pandemic served to preserve our current unique moment of awfulness in bronze. As the porn angle makes, ahem, explicit, this is about how public and private spheres have essentially switched places. We know far too many of the intimate details about each other's activities, opinions, etc. at the same time that medical precautions last year encouraged us to navigate public spaces in isolation. Probably more distressing though is how large and very public acts, such as atrocities performed in plain sight by various governments, become cloaked in ideology and are not to be spoken of. Some other scattered thoughts:
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I liked the organizational structure, as it allowed Jude to explore these issues in several different modes--observational, cringe comedy, essay, satire, and even superhero film! That very last shot was like the ending of A Moment of Innocence gone horribly wrong, and the third section in general reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut's orgy tribunal, complete with weird zooms and an assortment of masks! This part also contained a great gag tying together the film's themes, when one of the parents prepares for the unnecessary screening of the porn video by squirting out a dab of antibacterial soap into his hand.
In conclusion, I don't know why they had to include all that nudity. It coulda been such a nice, sweet movie without it

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#5 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:04 pm

I think this film and Burnham's Inside serve as perfect complements for one another- Jude uses COVID to take a more artistically expansive macro-look at our social deficits and skewers our civilization as we know it, while Burnham's film postures at the same, before continually recoiling back to the self's gravitational pull- plagued with inner conflict in a comprehensive admission of mental health issues being sometimes too powerful to focus, or care, about the world at large. Jude unapologetically indicts us all with fair condescension, and Burnham questions whether such awareness weaponized as a superior trait is really a valuable solution or just another problem we use to avoid necessary growth ourselves. The fact that both artists are right, and ultimately attend to completely different areas under the umbrella of the same concerns but splitting the ethos in half, is what makes each so vital to the other. By no coincidence, they're both the best movies of the year so far.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#6 Post by swo17 » Sat Jun 26, 2021 4:30 pm

Alright, maybe I'll watch one more COVID film then

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#7 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:58 pm

The more I think about this film, it stands with Assassination Nation as the best modern commentary on cancel culture, for bluntly showing the individuals (after an institutionally-focused connective chapter of culture and history) in western civilization’s ease to eviscerate another person of their worth. It’s a cynical joy to watch Jude frame so many solipsistic social executioners confined together in the third act, reinforcing just how absurd it is when we all emphasize our own importance and disallow another to be as complex as us, the judger. Each of us obviously cannot be any more valuable than the other with a separate stance, and yet we believe we are, and this is translated in the most objectively banal exhibition of our worst qualities Jude can conceive of... a long, drawn-out coddling and defensive PTA meeting. The bonkers 'third ending' serves an additional function in reminding us that we are not God, or supremely special, or entitled to pretend we are omniscient moralists, and it cements this sobering deflation of our narcissistic balloons in the most aggressive way possible! It's not only an act of fantastical empowerment, but an equally-fantastical (and thus, depressing) solution of disempowerment.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#8 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:34 am

Trailer (semi-NSFW)

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#9 Post by Never Cursed » Thu Mar 17, 2022 4:01 pm

Hulu and Amazon refused to allow an uncensored version of this to play on their services, prompting Jude to offer his own unconventional censorship of the explicit scenes (the scenes described are the premise of the movie, no spoilers)

EDIT:
NSFW and spoilerShow
During the second "dictionary" segment of the film, the image for the word "cunt" (a filmed recreation of the famed French painting L'Origine du monde) is "censored" by superimposing the painting over the anatomical region in question. Hilarious!
Last edited by Never Cursed on Thu Mar 17, 2022 4:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#10 Post by swo17 » Thu Mar 17, 2022 4:07 pm

OK, I want that too on the eventual home video release

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#11 Post by Aunt Peg » Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:51 am

Magnolia released this on DVD earlier this year. Hopefully someone will release an English friendly Blu Ray at some point.

Only played for one week late last year at one of my local cinemas.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#12 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Oct 03, 2022 1:08 pm

Aunt Peg wrote:
Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:51 am
Magnolia released this on DVD earlier this year. Hopefully someone will release an English friendly Blu Ray at some point.

Only played for one week late last year at one of my local cinemas.
FWIW from imdb:

Comment 1: To get a public screening in the U.S., the distributor of the film decided to remove 20 minutes of footage from the film. As a result, the film will run for only 86 minutes in U.S. screenings.

Comment 2: Notwithstanding the previous "Alternate Version" entry, today I saw this movie at the Film Forum in New York City, where it ran 106 minutes.

Comment 3: The Film Forum screening was probably faithful to the creators' original intent, with no material removed and no other means of censorship used, as this would be consistent with the raison d'etre of the theater (I live within walking distance). However, a full length version is circulating that, for the scenes with explicit content, covers about 90% of the screen with placards that describe the action, in somewhat humorous, comic book fashion, rather than actually allowing the viewer to view it. This is what is available on Hulu at the moment (September 2022). The fully uncensored version is only available in the United States on iTunes and Vudu.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#13 Post by Aunt Peg » Mon Oct 03, 2022 7:34 pm

The back of the DVD states 106 minutes approx.

I know I saw the film with a running time of 106 minutes and I do have a vague memory of voice overs a couple of times but the film also included penetration scenes. This was not in the US.

I'll need to get around to watching the DVD before my of my memory of the film fades further.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#14 Post by Aunt Peg » Tue Oct 04, 2022 9:24 am

I watching the DVD with my partner just ten minutes ago. We both saw the film at the cinema in late November 2021 which was the 106 minute version.

Whilst human recall can be very poor and particularly in relation to films given the number that I see, neither of us noticed anything different in the DVD.
SpoilerShow
Pre title sequence: "the sex tape" which includes penetration and oral sex, etc;
1st Part of the Film: Does not contain any contentious material other than strong language;
2nd Part of the Film: Which is the best part has a scenes of 'vintage' pornography, a woman performing fellatio on a male and for all her effort can't generate an erection from him, extended close up of a penis, extended close up of a vagina and a world pleasuring herself with a sex toy;
3rd Part of the Film: Parents watching the 'sex tape' on a lap top. This contains a large amount of what is in the pre title sequence only much smaller due to the use of a lap top.
It is worthy noting that everything was within context and I personally don't feel the film ever strayed into the gratuitous.

Also, the back cover of the Magnolia DVD states 'Not rated'.

The film was rated R in Australia which is equal to the NC17 US rating but doesn't carry the baggage that an NC17 rating does in the US. All cinemas show R rated films and are streamed in their complete cuts (though there may be exceptions I am unaware of).

If the Magnolia DVD release is not the complete uncut version I'd be very surprised.

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Re: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc [Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn] (Radu Jude, 2021)

#15 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:14 am

Thanks Aunt Peg. Hopefully Magnolia will make a BD version available eventually.

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