Although I do not watch Bulgarian films as a rule, I went to see this one,perhaps in the hope that it would have been better. Of late some Bulgarian TV series have led me to reconsider my negative view of Bulgarian cinema. What a disappointment!This film continues to have the typical weaknesses of Bulgarian cinema. Here are all the things I dislike so strongly:the maddeningly slow pace,the pretentiousness, the pseudo-psychologism and pseudo-philosophical depth,the primitive dialogs,the confused and totally unconvincing plots,the inability to tell a coherent story--yes, they are all here! As if the film had been made in, say, 1985 or earlier. It starts as a drama but somewhere in the middle it suddenly and unexpectedly turns into a satirical comedy. Not to mention the numerous interruptions in the story: dreams, memories or symbols all messed up in a hodgepodge without the authors bothering to explain and to clarify what is what. The trick to use two international stars ( Lindhardt and Casta ) to save the film will not do. They can't save it! And the beautiful landscapes cannot make up with everything else, alas! I watched Mr. Kalev's previous film too ( Eastern Plays) but I did not like it either. It is more of a documentary rather than a piece of art. I am not going to watch his third film whatever it is!
Review of The Island
