Dyad

Such a high score for a dumb movie, you may say...

For me personally, Bulgarian cinema died and was buried last year with a movie called 'In the Heart of the Machine.' The lack of any creative vanguard, the full-length cliché, the weak acting performance, and the repulsive sound have become the trademark of Bulgarian cinema. For more than twenty years, we have seen just a few more sparks like 'Dyad'.

This movie was a huge surprise for me, as I had seen its early trailers and expected some extra dirt on the coffin of Bulgarian cinema. The main flaw of the movie was visible at first glance - an exploitative script filled with exaggerated drama, typical for our geographic latitude.

I have to admit that the main reason to watch it was that I needed to see how far the dumb dialogue could go, how the director tries to rip off Hollywood mainstream trends again, and how the actors struggle with every line. Don't get me wrong, there are many very talented Bulgarian actors, but the scripts nowadays sound like some Bulgarian language scientist tried to imagine how street people talk.

It turned out I was very amused. I had not even hoped that any new Bulgarian movie might try to break some of these symptoms of impotence and, in the meantime, try to go back to the good practices of the glorious past. I was fascinated with the dialogue and the characters created. Some of them - like the English teacher, the mother of the rich girl, the father of Dida, and the physics coach - were so authentic and truth-bearing that one could incorrectly presume they were real people. New actors are performing at the level of experienced actors like Ivan Barnev and Silvia Lulcheva. For me, some of the characters were so real, as their way of talking and thinking exactly represents people I actually know in real life. This does not happen by coincidence. I think this is an elaborate process that has been recreated by Yana Titiova, and I am looking forward to its usage again!

If the director was brave enough to make the movie solely about the characters without trying to use them to create Shakespearean drama, the movie would be a diamond.

The film is a mixture of fake taxi politics, and so much swallowed pain with some supposed struggle against songwriting, the same pathos that was captured by Yana Titova as a revolution is applied to a milf, mom and son, sex family therapy. There, of course, as always, cigarettes are the first victim. They could have done it smart and supported more and more the concern of the viewers, against the words at the entrance of the parliament..!? When I'm looking a good mystery, here we go, a fascinating story. It is shadow, it is one of the great film noirs, a black-and-white symphony that exactly reproduces Margarita Stoykova ability, on the plot, to find a tone of voice that keeps its distance, and yet is wry and humorous and cares..!?

Extremely depressing. It had to be, just like most modern-day Bulgarian movies. It's like they must pass a certain threshold - a level of melancholy, misery, sadness, and sorrow in order to be released for production.

Some people might say it's a realistic representation of Bulgarian reality, but I think it's too much. Even if it was so accurate and realistic, why would people, in their right minds, want to see more of their brutal reality on the big screen, too? Makes no sense at all and it's a waste of time and emotions.

I actually feel bad for Ivan Barnev and Silvia Lulcheva for taking part in this. Their names are the only reason why I didn't rate it as 2/10.

Bulgarian filmmaking can do much better than that.

Apart from the solid presence of Margarita Stoykova, it's just another misery story, but without the emotional effect because it's so clumsily and so dishonestly told. For one, we see the protagonist's inner state directly depicted in her scribblings, but what's even worse, any kind of problematic behavior seems to serve some very presentable purpose. Why is that now, huh? If Dida was using her body to buy herself booze instead of English lessons, would that have made her any less pitiable? Authors and audiences who cannot stand a real anti-hero only demonstrate how deeply uncompassionate they are. And I'm sick of how these self-proclaimed saints appropriate all the important topics and effectively take away the opportunity for real discussion. If you want a truthful coming-of-age drama, Kids is the obvious option, but for a more girly take, see the Israeli Six Acts.

What I will never understand is why the heck everytime a character is presented as a trashy one he doesn't get a glimpse of chance FOR CHANGE? I am not a fan of long movies, but I would totally accept IF the main character had a transformation!

My biggest problem is not that this movie is the classical Bulgarian tragico-depressing-kill-my-own-molecles-vibe, but that it's about a teeneger, who is this in 100%! Some of the creators say that the ,,chalga" is to blame, but now I say that an abbys without a bottom with falling rocks is! After darkness comes the light, that's a freakin Universe rule - LEARN IT!

The movie was not finished in many ways, even if the ending was as stragic as the current one - which, by default, I didn't fully understand.

It's pitty because the movie was catching, it deffinitely has dynamics and the acting was good. But that's not enough, just like the audio, which was bad - as usual... Jesus, sometimes I say to myself ,,If I had enough money I'BE DAMNED if I don't make the most positive, cheerful and natural Bulgarian movie, EVER"! And recently I really think about it. A lot.