Treto poluvreme

embroidery of stories. slice of history. joy, love, ambition, passion. and the war. changing all. a great film for the fine recreation of atmosphere. for the good intentions. for the sketch of love story. for the passion for football in coherent manner. like many films from the East, a form of exorcism. not real surprising. because the art is tool for old testimonies about pain, injustice, hope, small victories. and this is the motif for see The Third Halv. more as a collection of old photos than example of acting. because remains the impression of fear of actors to assume in real manner, the roles. sure, an explanation could be the absence of artistic skills. but important remains the authenticity of scenes from a lost Macedonia and the stories of this in many ways, ignored land.this is the essence of the work of Darko Mitrevski. and it is an admirable work.

it is not easy to understand this film. because , more than a Makedonian story it is a confession from Balkans contemporary history, with deep roots, bitter at whole. at first sigh , it could be discovered as a nationalist film. or only a love story in war period. a film about soccer, about bad and good people, about abuses and about moral victories. in fact is only a subject for reflection. about past and about future. about myths and about reality. about a slice of world who has the force and courage and wise to be itself, again and again. it is a good movie. it is a beautiful one. but, more important, behind the acting, dialogs, images and script itself, it is a way to remember the pain of a land, the experience of people. that fact does " Treto poluvreme" real special. because it is a film of different languages and the same lives. so, see it ! see it without the desire to judge. only with the hope to understand.

As it is obvious there are too many languages used for almost all actors. In my opinion it is very hard to distinguish for foreigners between Macedonian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Jutish-Latino... That is the reason that I propose when translating the title for different languages to be written using different font shape and if possible different color. This will enhance full understanding of the story, especially taking into account that some actors speak several languages. Doing so it will clarify the main message (according to my understanding) sent to us by the author: Love can find its way in any circumstances, and it is always stronger than hate.

This movie is one of the best outstanding Macedonian movies ever made in the history of Macedonian cinematography.

The Third Half is filled with lots of painful truths assembled in a beautiful love story continued with soccer events that wake up the spirit inside you. It's amazing that this movie so easily creates the cheering effect and you are cheering all the way.

While watching the movie i smiled so good, I was laughing out loud at certain extremely funny moments and then I cried. After crying I laughed again, I laughed so sweet I loved the taste of those tears. In the end I cried smiling. This movie creates such strong emotional waves that you are not able to resist the urge to go along with them.

We were organized to watch the movie in the USA embassy and I would like to thank all the guys who made this happen.

Amazing work of art! Watch it and you will absolutely love it!

This film has been unfairly criticized in my opinion. Even before the film was released, news articles were turning up with angry Bulgarians complaining about the historical accuracy of the film well before it was even viewable to the public. But the film is not about the Macedonian-Bulgarian problem in foreign relations, it is about the Jewish community in that region, the Holocaust, love between a young man and a young woman, and love for football (soccer).

One of the major strengths of the film is the multiple languages used fluently throughout (English, Ladino, German, Serbian, Bulgarian, Roma and Macedonian,), with some of the actors, especially Rade Serbedzija, doing a good, convincing job in their roles. Although the film stretches a few historical points in order to create a better story, it does depict most of the events of WWII in the Balkans correctly. It depicts the ethnic multiplicity in the region of Macedonia before the war, the local resentment to Yugoslav rule, the Axis invasion, the initial support of the local population to Bulgarian occupation, and the expulsion of the majority of Macedonia's Jews to the death camps at Treblinka.

Some criticisms of the film include its length, and the characters. It tries to depict several years, but without effectively portraying the passing from one time to another, leaving the viewer confused as to when the story is taking place at any certain point. Also, many of the characters have little depth, and seem rather one dimensional (although there are a few characters who the audience learns to empathize with).

Other than these criticisms, it is a great film. Bulgarian nationalists' opinions should not decide whether one should see the film or not. During World War II the Bulgarians saved the Jews of Bulgaria from the Nazi death camps, but in the zones they occupied, they rounded up the Jews and sent them to their deaths on their own, without German help. That is what this movie is about. If the Bulgarians want to portray their efforts in saving Jews, watch a different movie.