A perfect blend of sociopolitical satyre and a feelgood light-hearted comedy, this movie does introduce to us the same old story about corruption and incompetence in the Bulgarian state administration and government agencies, but with a fresh twist and look at it. It makes us root for the main characters, the alcoholic inspector Kostov and and the penniless jobless former poet, Nixon. Both of them look and feel like failures and are far from true heroes. Yet they manage to explore a faulty system for their own benefit. This should feel wrong, we should be condemning them, their actions and their ideals. Yet we root for them, we want them to succeed, why? Because they don't "hurt" anybody. The flaws are there, all the corruption and incompetence is around them, they just put it to their use. The cast is diverse, sympathetic, a good mix of old, well-known actors and young rising stars. Everything would feel familiar for s Bulgarian, and the subtle or not so subtle jabs and the current and recent governments and certain political figures in Bulgaria makes this an even more relevant movie in 2020. It's not perfect, certainly, you can ask more from the script, the dialogue, the acting. But it is something different, and I did enjoy it from a little after the begginning to the very last scene, and for that a 7.5 rounded to an 8 is well-deserved!
Review of Yatagan
