Poslednata duma

This is another of Binka Zhelyazkova's poetic films about the anti-fascist resistance. The scene is set in the prison. A group of women are awaiting imminent execution. This is a film essay whose form is notable for free associative thinking and deliberate expressive conventionality. Many of the episodes convey a peculiar allegorical meaning. The birth of a baby in a condemned cell, the celebrating of the first steps of the child and the 'fire dancing' have a ritual character and are associated with traditional features of Bulgarian characters. The imaginary 'fashion show', the flowers drawn on the walls of the cell and the nursing of the baby on the very eve of the execution convey the sense of a symbolic victory over the forces of darkness. The almost unreal scene of the school recital involving association with Jeanne d'Ark and the French Revolution introduce the theme of the role of ideals in the history of mankind. In this film Beauty, Good, Tradition and the National Character are set against a background of fierce brutality.