Lachenite obuvki na neznainiia voin . The Unknown Soldier's Patent Leather Shoes
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 app...
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| Institution: | Open Society Archives at Central European University |
| Language: | Bulgarian |
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SIF Boyana
1979
Bulgaria |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:14c15315-b840-4f7a-925b-5d0c11a52617 |
| Summary: | 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 life after death. This is a philosophical parable rendered in almost purely documentary terms. The tensions between city and country life that are embodied in the adult villagers, and so have their effect on the young, are graphically realized in Vulchanov’s striking conception, which employs non-professional actors and the director’s own voice-over narration. |
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| Published: | 1979 |