Brief nach Amerika

Letter to America. The name of the movie itself has an underlying message. A message, a sincere message to tell, i mean 'before all the bridges are burnt', American people, their government -or whatever it is- that the US should be aware of the life going on, whether they like it or not, on other places of the world, before they decide to bomb again... The scene is Bulgaria for this movie, but one can consider it as anywhere he likes on earth...

Movies are quite efficient communication channels between cultures. And, since the term 'communication' has two ways, i advice this movie especially to the American spectators, in return of the standard Hollywood movies we've been watching for years and years...

I have been very eager to see the film as it is a rather rare occasion to have a new Bulgarian movie made in the past decade. I liked it though not of patriotic feelings only. I think that it has something very important for every film - a story line, and if you're a Bulgarian you'll know what I mean - our directors usually "forget" about the story line and crave to make great philosophic observations about life as such, immortality, etc. instead. Do they succeed - that's another question. I'm not sure that the title is the most proper choice for I felt the film rather carries a message to us, Bulgarians and not to Americans.

The acting is quite good - the film features some of the best actors of the new Bulgarian generation - Ana Papadopulu and Filip Avramov are famous theatre actors and Peter Antonov has an impressive acting experience in theatre and films as well. What I think will be most interesting to foreign viewers is perhaps the traditional Bulgarian music and the genuine feeling of authenticity which the director plausibly creates.

"Letter to America" was a thoroughly discussed picture in the year 2000 in Bulgaria. The fact that this movie was our representative at the 2000 Oscar awards, made the discussion even more ardent. Naturally, we didn't even get a nominee for Best Foreign Movie.Why? Because this production is not fit for the international(not to mention the American) audience. The movie is strictly Bulgarian, filled with our culture and made for our people. The journey of one person deep into the mountains in search for remedy, perhaps even for his roots, is pictured very well, but delivered poorly. Bottom of the line- our cinema industry is doing as bad as ever. But perhaps we took a step in the right direction...

All contemporary Bulgarian features share a common problem - they're more of a theater play than cinema. Although this movie really tries to escape the status quo, the feeling that I was watching a play rather than a movie left me only in a few moments - in the scenes with unprofessional actors, who really outperform the professional cast. Unfortunately, the director did not risk shooting the movie without the theatrical actors - I think it would be a lot better if she dared. Another malady of the Bulgarian cinema that plagues this film is the slow manner in which the story is told.

To summarise it: the story is strong, and the real people who play themselves are a bit of a compensation for the other shortcomings.

I have seen this film on the festival called The Days of the European film and I was very surprised. This is so powerful, wonderful and amazing film!

It leads us to the small village in the middle of Bulgarian mountains. There is no civilization and traditions are still alive there. It shows Bulgarian grandmothers, who are as beautiful and wise as the Bulgarian mountains and woods all around. It puts the village with the grandmothers and Bulgarian nature in contrast with New York. And it tells us about young people from Bulgaria, who are emigrating to USA and to the West. So there are only old people now. And it asks: Who will lead Bulgaria in the future? Who will look after this old, beautiful and amazing country? Why don´t you in your homeland, young Bulgarian people?

This was my first Bulgarian film and I fell in love with Bulgaria after seeing it.