Synopsis:

One of the most shocking and transgressive films of the 1970s, this incendiary political parable centers on Galai (the fearless Olga Karlatos), an actress starring as an Arab terrorist in a film about the Algerian War. In preparation for her role and under the influence of her militant director, Galai begins to inflict torture upon herself - blurring the boundaries between performance and reality as director Nico Papatakis provocatively interrogates questions of art, authenticity, and left-wing political hypocrisy.
- The Criterion Collection

Yonca Talu - film critic:

Papatakis’s most psychedelic and intellectually challenging film, Gloria Mundi begins with a scream and ends with an explosion—two images that powerfully capture the apocalyptic undertones of the Latin phrase that inspired the title: sic transit gloria mundi (“Thus passes the glory of the world”). Mired in a frenetic and gloomy atmosphere, it is a melancholic portrait of the end of an era as well as a virulent denunciation of consumer capitalism and a pretentious, hypocritical left-wing intelligentsia that deems itself political but does not take any action.

Content warning: The film contains graphic depictions of torture and self-harm, sexual violence and abuse and themes of political extremism and terrorism.

Cast:
Olga Karlatos, Christiane Tissot, Philippe Adrien, Anna Douking