I don’t normally take movie advice from the New York Times, but I was desperately bored and lonely last Saturday night so I rolled the dice. I’m glad I did!
This Romanian gem by writer and director Radu Jude was a terrific take on the travails of a gig economy. Romanians are portrayed as far wiser than Americans and Germans and that’s ok with me. The Romanian people have been through much and have the crusty pessimism and sardonic humor to keep on going.
The main character is actress Ilinca Manolache who plays Angela, a PA for multiple companies who basically drives most of the film. Radu’s writing combined with Ilinca’s infectious aura makes this compelling. I only wish I had seen this on the big screen. To boot, Ilinca also has an Instagram character who she films throughout the day with a lens disguised as an incel who makes rude audacious commentary. THEN, (yes there’s more), there’s a move within a movie about a woman also named Angela who drives a taxi and how these two Angelas live similar/parallel time warped lives.
The juxtaposition of blank and white (the current Angela) and the colorized (70’s Angela) and current clips of overworked factory workers who have suffered company negligence and life changing injuries is very creative.
The movie was brilliant up until the last 15 minutes which may be maddening on purpose, but the lack of a real ending bothered me after 2 hours and 22 minutes.
