Don't Expect Too Much from the End of the World, due in cinemas on September 27, 2023, is a bold production starring actors Ilinca Manolache and Ovidiu Pîrșan. The feature film is skilfully orchestrated by renowned Romanian director, Radu Jude holder of several international awards for his previous productions.
The film invites us to discover a modern-day version ofAlice in Wonderland from the East. Named Angela and played by Ilinca Manolache, the heroine is ambitious and determined. Angela is a production assistant busy scouring the city of Bucharest for the casting of an advert on workplace safety commissioned by a multinational corporation. A real daily adventure opens up for her, confronting wealth, poverty, harassment and entrepreneurship, disability and health.
As she travels through Bucharest, Angela meets a fascinating and varied cast of characters, who help shape her vision of the world. Of particular interest are the characters of the "cat" and the "Mad Hatter's clock", taken from the famous Alice in Wonderland novel. They add a strange, whimsical dimension that contrasts with the seriousness of Angela's mission. But perhaps most surprising of all is the encounter with her double, another Angela emerging from a forgotten old film, which promises to be a study in identity and individuality.
In Don't Expect Too Much from the End of the World, every character Angela meets is an opportunity to discover a new facet of life in Bucharest, from wealth to poverty, from health to disability. It's clear that Radu Jude and his production team have made a considerable effort to paint a colorful and contrasting picture of the Romanian capital.
What's particularly appealing about Radu Jude's meticulously woven narrative are the deep, wide-ranging themes it tackles. Angela's search is more than just a mission for a job. It's a cultural and social journey through the strata of Romanian society, a story that goes beyond the boundaries of gender and identity, and seeks to understand human nature in all its complexity.
N'attendre pas trop de la fin du monde (Don't expect too much from the end of the world) is sure to captivate its audience, thanks to its captivating narrative, top-flight casting and universal themes. In a world where the lines between the real and the virtual are increasingly blurred, this film promises to be a powerful exploration of modern life.
Angela, a production assistant, scours the city of Bucharest for the casting of an advert on workplace safety commissioned by a multinational corporation. This "Alice in Wonderland of the East" encounters in her exhausting day: big businessmen and real harassers, rich and poor, people with severe disabilities and sex partners, her digital avatar and another Angela from a forgotten old movie, Westerners, a cat, and even the Mad Hatter's clock...
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