Na vseki kilometar

If the modern viewer wants to get acquainted with the high-quality cinema produced in Eastern Europe during the 1944-1989 period, the communist years that is, this is one of the five or six finest examples that he/she can come across. But first things first: all this whining about those films being a propaganda and all, like the one done by one of the reviewers here, is ultimately redundant and ridiculous simply because such films were made on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The times demanded them, no more no less, and there was nothing inherently wrong with them, truth be told. The contemporary audience, free of political ideology and other similar burdensome mentality, will find all the right reasons to enjoy this highly thrilling ride, from the first to the last episode.

So this is a TV series which comprises two seasons, 13 episodes each, each episode closing around the one hour-mark. Season 1 deals with the Bulgarian partisan movement against the German occupators and their supporters in Bulgaria, and is a first-class war/adventure epic. The action takes place in the late-1930's/early-1940's, and is full to the brim with impressive spectacles: chases, skirmishes, battles, explosions, torture, captures, impossible escapes, betrayal, breath-taking vistas, a few love affairs as well but nothing too overtly melodramatic. There are quite a few humorous touches, too, but those will largely escape the foreign viewer since they are more deeply embedded in Bulgarian culture. I'm actually quite curious to hear how they have been translated into other languages, Russian included...

Season 2 switches the action to the times after the end of World War II, and each episode from it is a full-on espionage/counter-espionage thriller, think a mixture of the Harry Palmer features with Michael Caine ("The Ipcress File", "Funeral in Berlin") and the early James Bond films ("From Russia with Love" "Dr. No"), before this franchise became a flamboyant, gimmicks-by-the minute blockbuster... the tone, compared to the first season, becomes more academic and a tad darker, but the excitement is high all over although this second part is not as heavy on all-out action scenes. It's the Cold war, after all, not so much heat to be generated from clandestine operations in the enemy's backyard... Quite a few of the scenes are actually filmed in Western Europe which gives greater authenticity to the proceedings, and also makes the series even more absorbing.

It's obviously a labour of love, the whole series, with the entire constellation of Bulgarian cinema participating at various stages throughout, even when it comes to the brief compulsory cameo appearance. Of particular note is the interplay between the main protagonist and antagonist, the former being Nikola Deyanov, an intrepid partisan in the first season, and a key figure in Bulgarian intelligence service in the second; the latter being Bogdan Velinski, a main assistant to the German fascists at the beginning, and the heart and soul of numerous espionage operations on Bulgarian soil later. The two main characters bump into each other regularly throughout the episodes with Deyanov, played by none other than Bulgaria's finest Stefan Danailov (R. I. P.), on a some kind of a personal vendetta against Velinski who was responsible for Deyanov's father's death at the start of the series. However, instead of turning the entire enterprise into a vengeance saga, which could have been the case in the hands of less capable artists, the filmmakers steer away from the revenge-obsessed stereotype and depict Deyanov as a much more versatile personality who is truly dedicated to the communist cause, and is ready to submit his personal quest to the greater good. The two certainly confront each other at the end... but I'm not going to reveal everything here; let's just say that this opus is not exactly devoid of the staple happy ending...

I personally enjoyed the second season more as I'm an incorrigible sucker for spy stuff, and I would also like to point out that this second part must have played its part, to inspire the Bulgarian filmmakers to start churning out more features in the spy genre, with some true highlights (the majority made for TV, too) like "Double Trap", "Probability Equal to Zero", "Hot Traces", "The Cobra's Number", "The Black Frames", the Bulgarian/Russian collaboration "Presscentre/The Big Game""... the list can be extended. Alas, save for the mentioned "Hot Traces" ("Goresti Sledi") and "Presscentre/The Big Game" ("Goliamata Igra"), which can still be found on youtube (Bulgarian & Russian language only), those ventures are next to impossible to track down, buried somewhere deep in the archives of Bulgarian National Television... The series reviewed here are not exactly a very rare item, but whether they have been translated into your language, that would be up to you to find out. Please make the effort... you won't regret it. I promise.

Actually this is one of the best Bulgarian movies with the best Bulgarian male actors ever playing brilliantly.

The main character major Deianov is played by best Bulgarian male actor Stefan Danailov. This role made him a start and he still considers this as his best role.

The movie song is one of the best Bulgarian songs ever written. And yes it shows Bulgarian resistance WWII and Bulgarian communists fighting the Bulgarian Nazis and German Gestapo. If you are a Nazis or US cartoon character you will not like the movie LOL.

And yes Bulgarians still care. If you are reading the reviews and wonder what the truth is look at the people ratings about it :-)

This movie is nothing more than cheap communist propaganda. It is for people with short memory who have no respect for victims of communism in Bulgaria. It glorifies those who have been terrorizing the people of Bulgaria throughout the 20thy century. And the main characters are no antifascists, they are simply Moscow puppets.

There's nothing benign about this movie. It only serves our current communist rulers so that they can claim that their past rule was actually good for the country!

I have one suggestion: instead of showing such cheap propaganda somebody should make a movie about the communist crimes in Bulgaria- executions without trial, concentration camps, persecution of political opponents, ruining the country and forcing over 1 Mio Bulgarians to go abroad.

This was a film a whole generation grew up with. It used to be one of the most emblematic films of the communist era in Bulgaria. Widely praised and loved by the common people. True - the script was more than naive, and the characters were black-and-white and flat, but our cinema was just developing at that time and no one was bothered by the shortcomings of the film. Rather, my parents and their friend, who were children at that time, and their parents saw fellow Bulgarians fighting courageously against the fascism - something our nation was taught to be proud with. I have seen the film. NOT BAD! Even with the propaganda in it.

And to answer the previous comment - the Bulgarians care. Still.

This is the Big Film of Bulgarian Cinema. Unfortunately, I didn't see it referenced in the filmography of Robert Holloway's "Bulgarian Cinema" - which is the only book I have witnessed in English language that narrates the story of cinema art in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe (not Kung Fu East).

I will try to remember the plot of this Movie by the faculties of my mind, since I haven't watched it from my childhood years and now-a-day spending time for such scrutiny is obsolete. This TV serial was made in two installments (1969 and 1971) with each film having 12 episodes, 45 min each. The whole saga takes some 50 years to evolve - from the anti-fascist uprising in 1923 to the mid-1970s. Pictures are taken in several socialist countries (then) and Bulgaria; plus, there are several episodes shot abroad in Paris, London, etc. mainly from the second film. The film evolves as personal vendetta between Nikola "Sergei" Deyanov (communist, whose father is killed during the uprising by barge drowning) and Bogdan Velinski (cop and police inspector, who is personally responsible for the execution of the protagonist's father).

Let me make a stop here and say that the Soviets during that historical period were leading world power. They were supposed to have developed an A-bomb, have sent cosmonauts via rockets in Space and naturally have big budget cinema. These are all balloones and life haven't changed a bit since "Ninotchka" (1939) with Greta Garbo. But at that time We (young and adults together from the Socialist Bloc) were prone to believe that things are different. No one disputed that the Russians think big and that their performance is best. Certainly, the Soviet serial "Seventeen Moments of Spring" (1973) with Vyacheslav Tikhonov was thought to be better spy thriller. That is also misnomer. Everything the Russians have is taken and modified with least originality - language, culture, religion, etc. mainly from East Europe and less so from Western Civilization.

No indulgence to the Bulgarians, whatsoever. Further on the actor's play. Stefan Danailov playing as Major Deyanov made a cult character. He was the Bulgarian Alain Delon. The Borsalino type hero of Sergei has remained unforgettable for people of my generation - the melody of the film, the partisan fights and skirmishes with the fascists, the spymaster and double agent from the second film, etc. This is a Legacy. As to the negative role of Inspector Velinski (Georgi Cherkelov), I may observe the following. Take for instance a psychological actor such as George C. Scott. Brilliant stage work which is precise to the utmost detail. I remember particularly his mannerism with dices - every time he has to take a decision, he throws his dices. So much so!

I dedicate this review to my Uncle K. killed by the communists in the 1950s. Rest in peace!