Tilt

TILT is not surprisingly the Bulgarian entry for the Oscars in 2012. The film is beautifully shot, the story intriguing depicting the changes in Bulgaria in the period 1989-1991 in a fresh, non-political manner, with outstanding acting performances.

As a European production the film has the distinctive characteristics of independent films, however, it is not annoyingly artsy. Moreover, the visual style is distinctively creative, which a novelty for Bulgarian cinema.

What I found especially noteworthy is the humor with all the serious issues of the story are presented, not diminishing their significance, moreover highlighting them that makes the film also very entertaining and pleasant to watch.

The main premise is a love story that that however does not make TILT suitable only for younger audiences. The years the film is set to depict are important for Bulgarian history and familiar to a number of generations.

Overall, I recommend TILT to various audiences that enjoy quality filmmaking.

TILT is a really well-told story of the unpleasant and rough Bulgarian reality after the fall of communism. It's violent and romantic, it's brutal, but honest, it's painful to the ones that once shared the characters' story and are now reminded about it, but I believe it helps them reevaluate this part of their lives and gives them strength anew to tackle their current problems.

Apart from the meaning and the message, this is one of the most professionally shot and edited movies from Bulgaria. The actors were very good - young, beautiful, sexy and very talented. The director has also done a great job, the cinematography is simply beautiful.

It has controversial and interesting characters and a good story. Maybe harder to understand for people that have never directly come in touch with communism, but keeping your attention till the end. I felt fresh after I walked out of the theater. Definitely one of the movies that the current Bulgarian generation will play to their offspring.

As a coincidence I was at the age of the those guys on 1989 when the regime change happened in Bulgaria. I am sorry but my own life and the lives of many of my friends were much more interesting and dramatic than this movie characters'.

Starting from the title - Tilt has the usual Bulgarian movie title of at least 3rd 4th level of abstraction.

Boring story, so straightforward, nothing original. The love story shown within 2 minutes in sooo cliché-way succeeded with that typical sex scene in the locker room. Hey, we've seen love stories and sex scenes. This was far weak to be a basis for the rest of the movie.

Dialogs are so difficult to hear and understand and this not because of some original language, it is because of the majority of the actors just cannot act. The main character is boring, his mates are boring, the girl is boring. I remembered none of the names of the characters.

And they must be kidding by proposing this as a nominee for Oscar awards.

I saw TILT last night and undoubtedly this is a good Bulgarian movie with a story line (which is hard to find in other BG movies) and acting that is more good than bad. Actually the young actors that have not appeared in theaters have not been ""corrupted"" by theater directors, so they play satisfactorily well in the movie.

The film shows the transformation in Bulgarian (and Eastern European) society after 1989, focusing on the young people''s state of mind, susceptibilities, hopes and dreams, thus pointing to what one can expect the future Bulgarian society to be. Young and fragile boys, easily manipulative by the more insolent ones, fall victim to the rising mafia, a social stratum that rose from the military circles and still dominates the public domain of Bulgaria today.

There is of course a love story going on, which develops despite the girl''s tyrannic father, who is a symbol of the powerful of the day, the remnants of the past, all shaping the future of a couple strongly in love. The two lovers act well, although the love story between them could be developed a little more, I felt like I wanted to see more of it and wanted to know the girl better.

Anyway, I think the movie is beautifully shot, showing the misery of the country but in a nice way, not self-pitying or anything (which is common for other BG movies). I liked it that the movie makes you laugh at many points (the humor is relevant for Bulgarians) and the audience did indeed laugh a lot. At the end some people even clapped their hands :)

I give it 6 out of 10, rating it as an entry in IMDb, not as a Bulgarian movie. If I had to rate it compared to other Bulgarian movies, I would probably give it 9/10

Although many Bulgarian directors choose the fateful events of the end of 1989, and the subsequent transition to municipal democracy as background to their films, TILT is definitely not clichéd or melodramatic.

The story encompasses the fall of the Communist behemoth in Bulgaria and its metamorphosis in the early 1990s into the mafia that will corrupt a good part of the Bulgarian population in various ways.

My primary criticism in Bulgarian films used to be cinematography. TILT is, however, beautifully shot and the color grading accentuates the mood of the film.

The music/score was also superbly used, giving TILT a fresh breath of air. The storytelling was decent.

My only criticism of the film is the excessive use of profanity--after a while it felt forced.

10/10