April 2, 2026
FILM: KONTINENTAL ‘25
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: RADU JUDE
STARRING: ESZTER TOMPA, GABRIEL SPAHIU, SERBAN PAVLU
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I’m fascinated by the work of Romanian writer/director Radu Jude. His films are very different from one another yet they each capture some aspect of his country’s current and historical culture/society in often very creative ways, especially in his 2023 film, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World. In 2025 he released two films, a strange and overblown story of a director trying to tell the story of Dracula, which I reviewed back in October, from several different angles and Kontinental ’25, which is now getting a theatrical release here in the U.S.
The film is stylistically closer to the former film and not nearly as bombastic as the latter. It begins with a now homeless former athlete, in a modern day Romanian city, seen collecting recyclables and begging for money. He lives in the boiler room of a building which is to be demolished so that a luxury hotel can be built on the same property. When bailiff Orsolya informs him that he must move out he is deeply saddened as he has no interest in living in a shelter. His ultimate response is to commit an act that has a major emotional impact on Orsolya. She becomes the center of the rest of the film trying to overcome the guilt she feels for what he does. Her obsessive thoughts about it keep her from a vacation with her family as she goes from person to person trying to understand why bad things happen to people.
We learn that Orsolya is very much a do-gooder, trying to save the city from all its hardships. Jude’s film addresses several social issues including homelessness and the failings of Romania’s health care system with many poor people unable to obtain necessary medications. So, she donates money where she can. In one of the many long takes in the film, she has a discussion with a good friend where they not only note problems in the city but also the current atrocities in Gaza and Ukraine. She mourns the rising fascism in Hungary; clearly depicted as a rival of Romania.
Lightening up another sequence is her former student who she initially seems annoyed with but then chooses to spend an evening drinking with while he pontificates on a variety of philosophical ideas including an extensive dissection of Buddhism. This segment feels as if Jude is heading into Before Sunrise territory as the two characters spend hours in conversation (well, he mostly talks, she listens.) He’s got a more optimistic handle on society. Perhaps it’s his more youthful perspective in which he seems perfectly content working as a delivery driver years after finishing school.
A final sequence involves Orsolya attempting to get answers from her priest, who has plenty to say about immoral acts and who offers an evasive, if predictable, answer for why people suffer.
As Orsolya is going from place to place, Jude offers a wide array of shots of some of the great, and perhaps not so great, architecture in the city. There are literally dozens of such shots which are curiously lingered on. There’s also what appears to be an outdoor park filled with animated displays of dinosaurs. What is he trying to say with these images? He seems to be looking at the past and future with a somewhat cynical eye. Are we dinosaurs living out our final days? Incongruent to this is a robotic dog which bothers the homeless guy. Is this the future of society? Certainly, there are the images of the city as it was in the distant past while also some very modern and post-modern architecture that permeates several neighborhoods and roadways. He makes it clear that progress is not over as plenty of new structures are in the process of being built seemingly everywhere.
Perhaps all of this is an indication of a city/country moving forward while leaving behind some aspects of its culture that are in dire need of attention. Some, like Orsolya, can do as much as they can to help but it’s a heavy load for her and many others. Jude doesn’t provide any clear answers and is instead noting the many competing ideologies throughout his part of the world. While much of the world might be thinking it is advancing, there are also signs that it may be going in the opposite direction.
Kontinental ’25 is currently playing in New York and L.A. It opens in other cities, including the Siskel Center in Chicago, this week.
FILM: KONTINENTAL ‘25
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: RADU JUDE
STARRING: ESZTER TOMPA, GABRIEL SPAHIU, SERBAN PAVLU
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I’m fascinated by the work of Romanian writer/director Radu Jude. His films are very different from one another yet they each capture some aspect of his country’s current and historical culture/society in often very creative ways, especially in his 2023 film, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World. In 2025 he released two films, a strange and overblown story of a director trying to tell the story of Dracula, which I reviewed back in October, from several different angles and Kontinental ’25, which is now getting a theatrical release here in the U.S.
The film is stylistically closer to the former film and not nearly as bombastic as the latter. It begins with a now homeless former athlete, in a modern day Romanian city, seen collecting recyclables and begging for money. He lives in the boiler room of a building which is to be demolished so that a luxury hotel can be built on the same property. When bailiff Orsolya informs him that he must move out he is deeply saddened as he has no interest in living in a shelter. His ultimate response is to commit an act that has a major emotional impact on Orsolya. She becomes the center of the rest of the film trying to overcome the guilt she feels for what he does. Her obsessive thoughts about it keep her from a vacation with her family as she goes from person to person trying to understand why bad things happen to people.
We learn that Orsolya is very much a do-gooder, trying to save the city from all its hardships. Jude’s film addresses several social issues including homelessness and the failings of Romania’s health care system with many poor people unable to obtain necessary medications. So, she donates money where she can. In one of the many long takes in the film, she has a discussion with a good friend where they not only note problems in the city but also the current atrocities in Gaza and Ukraine. She mourns the rising fascism in Hungary; clearly depicted as a rival of Romania.
Lightening up another sequence is her former student who she initially seems annoyed with but then chooses to spend an evening drinking with while he pontificates on a variety of philosophical ideas including an extensive dissection of Buddhism. This segment feels as if Jude is heading into Before Sunrise territory as the two characters spend hours in conversation (well, he mostly talks, she listens.) He’s got a more optimistic handle on society. Perhaps it’s his more youthful perspective in which he seems perfectly content working as a delivery driver years after finishing school.
A final sequence involves Orsolya attempting to get answers from her priest, who has plenty to say about immoral acts and who offers an evasive, if predictable, answer for why people suffer.
As Orsolya is going from place to place, Jude offers a wide array of shots of some of the great, and perhaps not so great, architecture in the city. There are literally dozens of such shots which are curiously lingered on. There’s also what appears to be an outdoor park filled with animated displays of dinosaurs. What is he trying to say with these images? He seems to be looking at the past and future with a somewhat cynical eye. Are we dinosaurs living out our final days? Incongruent to this is a robotic dog which bothers the homeless guy. Is this the future of society? Certainly, there are the images of the city as it was in the distant past while also some very modern and post-modern architecture that permeates several neighborhoods and roadways. He makes it clear that progress is not over as plenty of new structures are in the process of being built seemingly everywhere.
Perhaps all of this is an indication of a city/country moving forward while leaving behind some aspects of its culture that are in dire need of attention. Some, like Orsolya, can do as much as they can to help but it’s a heavy load for her and many others. Jude doesn’t provide any clear answers and is instead noting the many competing ideologies throughout his part of the world. While much of the world might be thinking it is advancing, there are also signs that it may be going in the opposite direction.
Kontinental ’25 is currently playing in New York and L.A. It opens in other cities, including the Siskel Center in Chicago, this week.