Emi, a school teacher, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet. Forced to meet the parents demanding her dismissal, Emi refuses to surrender to their pressure.
The film written and directed by Radu Jude starts from the gesture of defiance against Russia made in 1905 by the sailors on the cruiser Potemkin, who received political asylum in Romania. In 2021, a sculptor (played by Alexander Dabija) is trying to make a work inspired by this event.
Based on an idea by Eisenstein, who dreamt of composing the 101 poses of Robert Macaire – a popular French character epitomizing the unscrupulous swindler – as represented in the 101 lithographs of the series Caricaturana by Honoré Daumier. First, a montage of the gestures as Eisenstein envisaged. Then, original texts are added to the caricatures. And finally, we took the liberty to use them as a commentary to some current news.
