major Reviews

Gore na chereshata (1984)

This is a children's film where impetus derives from young actor Veselin Prahov

[8 April 2005]

This is a children's film where impetus derives from young actor Veselin Prahov who made his debut at six in 'Dog in a Drawer'. Rada Moskova wrote both films and similarity between them lies in the main subject: the endeavor to preserve the last remains of the romantic civilization of childhood under the condition of modern city life. The action takes place during the summer holidays in a city quarter where the new blocks of flats are still surrounded by a few old houses, which still have cherry trees in the yard. The loft of one such house serves as secret hideout of group of young children. Living close-by is the well-known violinist Mincho Minchev (who plays himself in the film) with whom the children communicate well than with their own parents. The film ends with the question: what is going to happen once the bulldozers arrive and start demolishing the romantic houses which have been preserving our dreams and memories? Wouldn't they take away something of our childhood?

Kuche v chekmedzhe (1982)

One have to fight for the thing he loves

[4 April 2005]

This film is the work of the best-known master of Bulgarian films for children, Dimitar Petrov, who won great popularity with 'The Captain' and ' Hedgehogs Are Born Without Spines'. In this film children are tying to find a home for the stray dog. In their efforts to find a home for the dog the children are actually defending their right to a world of their own in the midst of modern everyday life. They are wagging an involuntary struggle for the restoration of their link with nature. Finally the children lose their battle. However. the film does encourage the young viewer, teaching him to fight for the thing he loves. It also suggests to parents that children's desires often contain natural wisdom and reason.

The Unknown Soldier's Patent Leather Shoes (1979)

This is a philosophical parable rendered in almost purely documentary terms

[10/10 · 12 November 2004]

This is a deeply personal film in which the director goes back to his own childhood in order to show us a bizarre world made up of real-life images and the fantasies of a child. Though essentially introspective, the film is much more of a philosophical speculation, in terms of various images and apparitions, about the spiritual traditions of the Bulgarian people and the peculiarities of a national character shaped by specific historical events. The central scene shows a multitudinous village wedding. A 'White Aunt' is being married to a 'Black Uncle'. To the mind of the child these are two polar images, which evolve into summary symbols of the Beautiful and the Ugly, the sublime and the deformed, the refined and the primitive in the spiritual heritage of the nation. Besides the wedding we are presented with a kaleidoscopic picture of a harvest and war, floods and hot summer days, childbirth, the death of centenarians and the life after death. This is a philosophical parable rendered in almost purely documentary terms: the cast includes no professional actors.

Sledovatelyat i gorata (1975)

The truth is not as simple as the facts must appear.

[4 October 2004]

This is a psychological crime film. The girl has pleaded guilty and the bulk of evidence is against her. The only question that has not been answered concerns the motive of the crime. The truth is not as simple as the facts must appear. It is somewhat like the forest in which the investigating magistrate jogs every morning. Man is like a forest; you should take a look from the inside to see what he is really like. Otherwise one runs the risk of mot seeing the wood from the trees. The inner worlds of the magistrate and the girl, along with their varied outlooks on life, clash in the course of an aggressive and lyrical dialogue of things said and implied. And out of this clash not only is a new logic born, but also a tender feeling between two complex personalities living in a complex world.

Vilna zona (1975)

This is a trenchant social satire of contemporary philistinism

[10/10 · 4 October 2004]

This is a trenchant social satire of contemporary philistinism fashioned in typical merciless and incisive style of writer Georgi Mishev, who has a series of films to his credit, realized in collaboration with several different directors (Lyudmil Kirkov, Eduard Sachariev, Ivan Andonov, Chavdar Gagov). This time he uses his satirical talent to expose the moral distortions and the coarse consumerist attitude to life, which the discrepancy between growing living standards and sluggish moral evolution create in people. 'Villa zone' opens with party at a small suburban villa. The youngest son of the family has been called up to join the army and he is having his farewell party. However, tension replaces the festive mood as soon as he announced that he has married the girl whom his parents consider unsuitable, not least because of her poor financial prospects. The natural defensive reaction of the parents is expressed in a series of aggressive acts, but the mutiny of the young man against the rank of consumerist passions and the narrow-mindedness of his parents shakes the fragile foundations of their philistine well being. This is one of successive, remarkable films in Bulgarian cinema in 70th.

With Nobody (1975)

The film offers a psychological analysis of the contradictions in the life of contemporary family

[3 October 2004]

This film is usually regarded as being one of Ivanka Grybcheva's children's films, whereas it should be seen as a transition to her subsequent films for adults. In contrast to many films about children the characters of the parents are not oversimplified sketches. The drama of the adults, divided by the discrepancies in their characters, and the peculiarities of his professions - the father is employed at distant construction sites and is rarely at home - is also carefully examined. Instead of the usual criticism of the parents, who stand accused of the suffering and the loneliness of their children, the film offers a psychological analysis of the contradictions in the life of contemporary family, which have a painful impact on the lives of children.

Selyaninat s koleloto (1974)

The film belongs to the so-called 'migration group' films in Bulgarian cinema. We see different human characters placed in the same situation, opposite views of life arising at a given stage of socio-economi

[8/10 · 2 October 2004]

The film belongs to the so-called 'migration group' films in Bulgarian cinema. Both thematically and by the genre it occupies an intermediary place between the dramas examining the break up of the patriarchal tradition and the satirical films about the adaptation of yesterday's villagers to the condition of urban life. The protagonist and his family have recently moved to the town, but every Sunday he gets on his bicycle and rides back to his native village. During the week he is a worker, but come Saturday and his soul is filled with a longing for the lost paradise of his countryside. It is here, in the little orchard of his father's house that he gets involved into beautiful, late love affair with a pretty chemist. But the girl remains only for a short time; her infatuation is short- lived. Will he manage to adapt his delicate inner world to the new urban life? His neighbor, also a peasant, does not feel the change at all. He is raising pigs between the blocks of flats and will not be bothered by either memories or dreams of past. We see different human characters placed in the same situation, opposite views of life arising at a given stage of socio-economic development.

Poslednata duma (1973)

In this film Beauty, Good, Tradition and the National Character are set against a background of fierce brutality.

[10/10 · 26 September 2004]

This is another of Binka Zhelyazkova's poetic films about the anti-fascist resistance. The scene is set in the prison. A group of women are awaiting imminent execution. This is a film essay whose form is notable for free associative thinking and deliberate expressive conventionality. Many of the episodes convey a peculiar allegorical meaning. The birth of a baby in a condemned cell, the celebrating of the first steps of the child and the 'fire dancing' have a ritual character and are associated with traditional features of Bulgarian characters. The imaginary 'fashion show', the flowers drawn on the walls of the cell and the nursing of the baby on the very eve of the execution convey the sense of a symbolic victory over the forces of darkness. The almost unreal scene of the school recital involving association with Jeanne d'Ark and the French Revolution introduce the theme of the role of ideals in the history of mankind. In this film Beauty, Good, Tradition and the National Character are set against a background of fierce brutality.

Koziyat rog (1972)

The authors denounce violence against human nature and defend the right to personal freedom

[10/10 · 25 September 2004]

One of outstanding Bulgarian films, One of the best screen versions of a short stories by Nikolai Haitov. This film is at once a parable and tragedy revealing by mean of lean dialogue and great dramatic tension the cruel history of Karaivan and his daughter Maria. The filmmakers - screenwriter Nikolai Haitov, director Metodi Andonov, cinematographer Dimo Kolarov, production designer Konstantin Dzhidrov,theme song written and performed by Mariya Neykova and at last, but not at least - the main actors Anton Gorcheb and Katya Paskaleva - denounce violence against human nature and defend the right to personal freedom. Katya Paskaleva played brilliantly two main female characters - this one of the mother and second one of Maria. After this film she became a great Bulgarian movie star.

Osmiyat (1969)

Here is a film in which anti-fascist resistance theme has been interpreted in a fresh and spectacular manner. Psychological analysis has given way to action.

[24 September 2004]

The screenplay is based on real events in the life of the legendary partisan commander Chochoolu, who returns in Bulgaria from the Soviet Union at the beginning of WWII. One pitch-dark night, at the head of a small group of paratroopers, he jumps from a plane over the territory of Bulgaria, where amid great danger, and after many police ambushes, he manages to raise a partisan detachment and takes up the challenge of an armed struggle. The filmmakers are chosen the adventure story as the main vehicle in portraying the individual characters and drawing the collective image of the detachment. According to the canons of the genre the partisan commander has many good, even hyperbolic, qualities. He is brave, ingenious, honest, just and, above all, invisible. Some of his actions are quite incredible because they are much too risk. Psychological analysis has given way to action. The characters are sketched in just a few bold strokes since detailed characterization would have interfered with the dynamic flow of the story. Here is a film in which anti-fascist resistance theme has been interpreted in a fresh and spectacular manner.

Shvedskite krale (1968)

The filmmakers have attempted to identify the reasons for ill-advised action of the main character, revealing lack of self-confidence, culture and good breeding.

[24 September 2004]

The worker Spas, who dreams to have a holiday of his life at a fashionable seaside resort. It turns out, however, that he feels lonely and unhappy at the resort of his dreams and get the knock. The character of Spas is not caricatured but the filmmakers have attempted to identify the reasons for his ill-advised action, revealing lack of self-confidence, culture and good breeding. Along with its revelation of sham values and its respect for the inborn purity of the workers and his morality, the film raises the problem of the material gains, which outstrip the moral evolution of man at a certain stage of his development.

Ptitzi i hratki (1969)

The film marks a new trend in the anti-fascist theme in Bulgarian cinema

[10/10 · 24 September 2004]

This film falls into the poetic tradition of antifascist theme at the end of fifties, and the same time marks a new trend in its development - the stylization of the characters is pushed to the limit where it verges on the grotesque, the ideas are in the form of metaphors and the poetic and ironic intonations in the general atmosphere are intensified. The action takes place at the beginning of WWII. A group of young people fewer than twenty is brought to the fascist court in a small provincial town. Against the background of the town's middle-class indifference the young anti-fascists live through their first encounter with the police brutality. In this clash their abstract revolutionary ideas become their faith. The death of one of the boys erases traces of flippancy and personal ambition. The naive dreamers become real fighters. The flock of birds chased by well-trained greyhounds symbolizes this turning point in the consciousness of the characters.

Byalata staya (1968)

The tragic price of compromise and indifference

[24 September 2004]

Through the life and the academic career of the psychologist Peter Aleksandrov (brilliantly interpreted by Apostol Karamitev) the film examines important problems in Bulgarian society during the sixties. In the loneliness of a white hospital room, almost entirely isolated from the outside world, the protagonist relives the crucial moments of his past: the deprivation-filled years of the resistance struggle, the tempestuous love affair of his university years, his chance marriage, the conflict at his office, in the scientific community and his personal life. In the face of death he is anxiously reviewing the road he has traveled, he is searching for the meaning of his contradictory life. In the process he touches on questions of loyalty to one's ideas and friends, on the tragic price of compromise and indifference. The film does not offer any soothing illusions but calls for a struggle aimed at asserting social and moral norms of conduct. Though The White Room was Metodi Andonov's feature film debut, it won him recognition as one of the best Bulgarian directors.

Ikonostasat (1969)

This is a film about freedom-loving artist who is trying to discover the truth and is helping his fellow countrymen overcome their slavish submissiveness

[23 September 2004]

In this free adaptation of 'The Iron Candlestick', the first part of Dimitar Talev's celebrated trilogy, Todor Dinov and Christo Christov resort to a highly expressive visual style. They recreate moments of the National Revival period in Macedonia (end of 19th century), a time when the awakening began of the national consciousness of the Bulgarian people. Raphe Klinche, a confirmed Christian and wood-carver, is seen against the backdrop of a series of rites and rituals (childbirth, wedding, death) and major social events (replacing the Greek language by the Bulgarian in church services). He dreams to complete the iconostasis for the new church in the town of Prespa. The freedom-loving master-carver lives at a time marked by a revolutionary upheaval, but also by deep-rooted patriarchal traditions. All does not understand his art, and his love affair with Katerina becomes a victim of dogmatic way of thinking of Sultana who causes the death of her own daughter. Rafe is despondent, but senses the imminent onset of events of major national significance. This is a film about freedom-loving artist who is trying to discover the truth through beauty and is helping his fellow countrymen overcome their slavish submissiveness.

Torrid Noon (1965)

The image of nature and the warmth of human relationships are interpreted with a great poetic intensity

[10/10 · 22 September 2004]

The film belongs to the period of the Bulgarian cinema during the late fifties and the early sixties who has renovate it and known as 'the poetic wave' mainly associated with the films on subjects from the anti-fascist resistance. Though 'Hot Noon' possesses some of distinguishing features of this wave, it deals with a contemporary theme: the theme of human solidarity.

This is a screenwriter's debut of outstanding Bulgarian writer Yordan Radichkov and the first feature film directed by Zako Heskiya in which the image of nature and the warmth of human relationships are interpreted with a great poetic intensity.

Tsar i general (1966)

The Tsar is shown as a contradictory, intensely dramatic personality

[22 September 2004]

The champions of the two irreconcilable moral positions have the authenticity of their real historical prototypes. Naum Shopov as the Tsar has achieved a particularly fine characterization. His interpretation of the character is free of the abstract acting clichés, which are typically used in such roles. On the contrary, the Tsar is shown as a contradictory, intensely dramatic personality impersonating a historical absurdity. With this film one of famous Bulgarian directors Vulo Radev continues to expand the potential of the genre in which spiritual concepts such as historical optimism, love for motherland and the people are realistically translated to the screen

Pleneno yato (1962)

Motive of trust is a distinguishing feature of the film

[17 August 2004]

The director Ducho Mundrov took part in the anti-fascist resistance - he was under death sentence in jail. Drawing from his experience he has made a deeply moving, poetic and humane picture. His film is one example of a wave of poetic films in Bulgarian cinema during 60-s. These films are dealing with the resistance theme, which began, in the late fifties and the early sixties. Here, as in the most of the films of this group, faith in the revolutionary ideals is associated with the moral qualities of the person.

A distinguishing feature of the films made during this period is motive of trust. Here, indeed, it is what drives the action onwards.

A byahme mladi (1961)

An outstanding poetic film devoted to the anti-fascist struggle.

[10/10 · 17 August 2004]

Drawing from their experience (both took part in the underground resistance), Binka Zhelyazkova and Hristo Ganev reveal with great verve and passion the activities of a young underground combat group operating in Sofia. The bombings, the spreading of propaganda leaflets, giving refuge to underground fighters, nocturnal walks in the park and the city streets, a visit to the ballet performance, ruthless tortures in jail - all these scenes are marked by highly expressive cinematic style. The play of flashlights of two central characters, Veska and Dimo, which dance on the sidewalk, now losing, now finding each other is one of the most memorable cinematic images.

Na malkiya ostrov (1958)

Spiritual trends of the time

[10/10 · 16 August 2004]

This is one of the first innovative films, which signaled the close of the period of schematic characterization in Bulgarian cinema.

There was a special decree of Central Committee of Bulgarian Communist Party against the film. Some of the spiritual trends of the time - anarchism, idealism, sectarian narrow-mindedness, humanism and violence - are portrayed by richly poetic means. The interior monologue, providing a link with the present, the lyricism of the visual style and the wealth of the score help reveal the personal motifs of the characters, which lead them to their tragic self-sacrifice.