Zift

Saw this at the Sydney Film Festival and was a little disappointed. Seemed to be a lot of hype surrounding this. Really liked the black and white photography and had high hopes after a nice opening. Unfortunately the movie lost me in the middle and never quite recovered.

I'd have to agree with one of the earlier posts. I think Gardev has definitely borrowed from other films and directors. Apart from that Todorov's screenplay doesn't quite work for me but I would love to read the book (the English translation is released next year). I found the little stories and anecdotes from minor characters to be intrusive and tiresome after a while and I don't know if the voice-over was that effective.

Thought the acting was fine and there were some amusing moments but overall I can't work out if this was supposed to be a thriller or black comedy, heist flick, noir potboiler or a bit of all of these.

It didn't have an Oscar nomination(for the best foreign language award) this year, still Zift is a crowning and epoch making epic movie for Bulgaria and Eastern/North-Eastern Europe. Hence, in the years ahead this movie will be mentioned often for its contemporary style, modern cinema language and creative editing.

Centering on a criminal, nicknamed as "Moth", the story is taken from a novel and is adapted to screenplay from its own novelist. Director Javor Gardev features Moth being a self-respecting and chivalrous Bulgarian, reflecting the character of his country under Communism. As such from the literary perspective, personification has applied to Bulgaria. Despite all of his relatives and friends leaving him alone, and his wife wounding his pride; he has never held his head down.

Not only the past of his country, the writer also reflects the present and the future of Bulgaria within the same literary perspective in a dark utopia, or a neo-noir(film-noir). The screenplay of Zift is very focused and detail-oriented on a simple storyline. The concept of the whole storyline is the sum of Moth's escape to freedom, his short-term memories, the stories he heard from his friends, how he is losing his last hope and how he dies. There we can realize obviously that the main purpose of the movie is not to tell, but is to impress. Director Gardev leaked impacts from Fellini's, Emir Kusturica's and Danny Boyle's cinematic methods. On the other hand, I don't include Frank Miller in this list; since Sin City and Zift has nothing in common but the cinematography. On the level of artistic value, Zift has more value than its comparisons.

Even though it's resembling several industrial box-office hits, the screenplay is truly original; considering that a novel writer has prepared the whole script from his own adaptation, you will see the total commitment of creating this epic by the production crew. There are scenes of violence, nudity, sexuality, perversity, immorality and enormity. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. It's only suitable for mature viewers and minor groups.

I must say I am not a fan of Bulgarian cinema even though I am a Bulgarian myself. All the films I have seen until this point were very disappointing and could only be compared between themselves because films outside Bulgaria had always stood above in terms of cinematography, acting,Direction, Budget etc. Of course many would say this is not true, films during socialism period were many more and much better in terms of quality. While this is true that certainly does not make them foreign standard. The acting is more like theatrical than cinematic and the picture quality has more white spots on it than mount Everest, not to even mention the Sound. Cinema after 1990s had not improved much.

I do not remember when I heard about Zift, I think I found it on IMDb, so I decided to check out the Trailer. I was blown away, for the first time in my life I was so excited about seeing a Bulgarian film. Yes It did took me a while since I live in the UK but I did saw it yesterday.After seeing it I felt depressed and had mixed feelings about it.I am going to analyse the film in positives and negatives.

Positives: - First Bulgarian neo-noir film - First Bulgarian film successfully presents the Thriller and Action elements in genre. - Very Good acting, especially from the Zahary Baharov and Djoko Rosic - First Bulgarian film to use cgi, I know this could be a negative but in this case it is used very well. - Monologue is absolutely outstanding in some parts. - Unlike most recent Bulgarian films this one is not set around just one location. - For its small Budget, a very good recreation of 1960s Sofia. - Awesome Soundtrack - Good Humor in places.

Negatives: - Too short, 85 minutes felt too short to fully achieve its potential. - Many unnecessary scenes involving downgrade humanity and dialogue which focus on 'toilet humour' - Too much nudity, this is something which all Bulgarian films suffer from but this one takes it on another level.(This may not be a negative to all but I generally do not like too much nudity, I believe there is different films for that purpose.)

Overall I believe the positives overcome the negatives and In conclusion I must say I liked Zift even though by no means its a masterpiece. It is very likely to be enjoyed by people who are fans of films like, Trainspotting, Irreversible, Requiem for a Dream, The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover and Tarantino's work.

One of the best new Bulgarian films. Dzift is a dark white film with cynicism, a fun sense of humor and a really well developed main character. The moth quotes are really interesting and can connect you to real life. The story at the beginning with the cheating wife that ended with the bigger the feces, the bigger the damage morally rather than materially was really interesting. The acting was good, cinematography was on point and the soundtrack was really good. It wasn't some full blown anti-communnist propaganda. The characters and stories throughout out the movie were really well done. After all it is definitely worth a watch.

" Zift"is a stunning surprise that came from Bulgaria. Black and white noir, dark comedy with a brilliant camera work and lighting. It makes you nostalgic for the old pre-color days, when the directors had to be extra creative, and shadows warmed your heart more than flames ever could. The incredible parody spots wicked sense of humor, especially with the fake Russian songs and surprisingly quite a few homo-erotic images. War and weapons usually get coupled with phallic symbols. Eros and Thanatos in it purest form. It is an immense pleasure to encounter such talented and smart artists, these days of simplicity and proud lack of novelty.Can we have some more, please.