Kontinental ‘25

In a thoroughly undiplomatic exploration of contemporary Romanian society, Radu Jude’s Kontinental ‘25 is both unsettling and absurdist, offering a sharp commentary on the deep fractures in post-Soviet Eastern Europe.

The film follows Orsolya (Eszter Tompa), a bailiff in Cluj who is tasked with evicting a homeless man, Ion (Gabriel Spahiu), from a building that is about to be refurbished into a boutique hotel by a German corporation. This event leads to Ion’s tragic suicide, and a guilt-ridden Orsolya embarks on a disjointed journey in search of personal redemption. 

Without any pretence of subtlety, Kontinental ’25 unfolds with a deliberate awkwardness, as though we are witnessing life in real-time, with minimal interference from its fragmented narrative structure. This approach organically reflects the disjointed nature of social life, especially in a society grappling with economic issues and systemic fragmentation. Though moments of humour surface, Orsolya’s encounters – whether it’s a spat with her mother or a bizarre conversation with a priest – emphasise the absurdity of modern existence, where her burdens become inextricably linked with the collective memory. Much like Roberto Rossellini’s Europa ’51, the film that inspired it, Jude’s story plays out with a lasting sense of alienation, as Orsoloya finds herself trapped in a world that seems increasingly indifferent to her suffering.

What may lack in structural cohesion, Jude more than compensates for with its direct and unapologetic political critique. Aside from drawing the film’s title, Kontinental, from the hotel project that functions as a physical manifestation of Western Europe’s physical encroachment, he eschews metaphors and symbols in his direction. Allowing the entrenched xenophobia and sharply current political views of his characters to speak for themselves, Jude invites his audience directly into the midst of uncomfortable realities.

In a less-than-conventional sense, Kontinental ’25 is a fitting, timely successor to Rossellini’s 1952 classic. Jude’s portrayal of the Romanian collective memory may not be fine-tuned but it is irrevocably powerful – a personal and political examination of a world that stands irrevocably fractured, chaotic and indifferent to its own brokenness.

Christina Yang

Kontinental ‘25 does not have a release date yet.

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