Treto poluvreme

The movie was inspired by the true story of a football team with the backdrop of second world war. It is all about the football revolution in a small country in the south-eastern Europe. The movie kinda reminds me 'Montevideo' which is also tells about the country's dream to participate in the first edition of the football world cup. More or less both the stories sets in the same era with a decade or two difference.

The opening was very similar to 'Madrasapattinam' where a woman in her 70s wants to go back to her native place in Europe. So she leave the States with her granddaughter and soon after arrived there she begins to re-encounters her flashbacks. She was the daughter of a wealthy man in the town who fall in love with a football player which is against her fathers will. But in the other side, inexperience football team is yet to register their first victory. So they hire a German coach to make the best club in the country. The team begins to show some positive sign but yet to face another difficulty when the country is occupied by the Nazi Germans. With all these troubles the team must rise from the ground.

No offence but frankly to say I never heard Macedonia before. From this beautiful movie I came to know it and hope same that it would reach every corners of the world. When it come to the movie, it tells the tale from certain aspect especially from that old woman and what she witnessed. There's other cruel side too where Hitler's Administration kills many Jews which is not in the movie. The filmmakers avoided the cruelty portions of the story and portrayed only from young love and the team's perspective. Still there are couple killing scenes and a half nude in it.

The end speech was very good. When I thought the end was very usual, the powerful lines spoken by the lead female made movie further stronger to end. Yeah that one was indeed very good and it explains the meaning of title very well.

8/10

In Macedonia, during World War II, a football team hires a German coach to improve its results. But the war will son caught up with the team, as the German-allied Bulgarian army invades the country. Sasko Kocev stars as Kosta, a handsome if a somewhat rakish footballer. Kosta pursues the beautiful Rebecca (Katarina Ivanovska), the daughter of Don Raphael (veteran actor Rade Serbezidja), a wealthy Jewish businessman. Richard Sammer is Spitz, the German trainer, who is persecuted by the authorities after they find he is a Jew (this is based on a real character, though many details were changed). The movie also covers a lot of political issues, like the Bulgarian-Macedonian rivalry, which I can't comment on deeply since it is a territory I'm quite unfamiliar with. This political aspect can be quite crude. For instance, all the Bulgarian characters look bad here, starting with the nasty General Gorvanov (a great performance of Emil Ruben). Overall, this is an entertaining film. Note: the former Yugoslavia seems to have cornered the market on period football films: some years ago, there was a fine Serbian film called Bog Te Video, about the Yugoslavian team that played in the 1930's World Cup.

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.

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.