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October 16, 2003

PLGFF 2003 - Bulgarian Lovers

After Blue Gate Crossing, I went ahead and stayed for Bulgarian Lovers (IMDB). I hadn't originally planned to, as there's four tv shows on Wednesday nights I like: Enterprise, Jake 2.0, Smallville and Angel. But, on rereading the synopsis before heading down to the theater, particularly seeing that it was a comedy-drama rather than a drama, I decided to give it a chance. It was a good decision.

Bulgarian Lovers is set in Spain, into which Bulgarian men apparently travel in search of a better life. Often, it seems that means finding a "Sugar Daddy". There's a line in the beginning of the movie that "Bulgarians think Spanish men are either cops or faeries because those are the only ones that talk to them". The movie is about one particular couple, Daniel and Kyril. Daniel is infatuated with Kyril, who has a girlfriend back home and seems to come up with surprising amounts of cash. As the relationship grows, the more questionable is Kyril's extra-curricular activities, but Daniel's attachment to Kyril, while stretched right up to the breaking point, never quite makes it. As a result, he gets drawn deeper into Kyril's activities himself.

The movie is a wonderful exploration of the lengths people will go for love, or even infatuation. Even though Daniel knows he's being used, he goes along with it. Not being a heavy dramatic movie (though the comedy is mild), the end result is probably more upbeat than it would be in real life, but it's still believable

One thing that probably impressed me more than anything else was the special effects, starting from the opening credits. They were incredibly well done, by far the best I've seen in any independent film short of a couple of SciFi shorts. There are some cute transitions and lighting effects, but they fit well and do not give one the impression of a kid in a special effects candy store like some films do. And there's one truly memorable scene, when Daniel is envisioning the possible outcome of what he's doing at the time, that would hold up against some of the things you see in $100 million action/adventure blockbusters.

After all that, you might wonder why I don't give it a 9 or a 10 instead of an 8, but I reserve 9's and 10's for the strongest stories that are watchable over and over and still have the same impact each time. Nicholas Nickleby is one I give a 10 to, for both excellent story and ability to watch over and over again. This one is good and very well done, but I can only really give it an 8... Posted by abatie at October 16, 2003 12:52 AM

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