Tilt

TILT is not surprisingly the Bulgarian entry for the Oscars in 2012. The film is beautifully shot, the story intriguing depicting the changes in Bulgaria in the period 1989-1991 in a fresh, non-political manner, with outstanding acting performances.

As a European production the film has the distinctive characteristics of independent films, however, it is not annoyingly artsy. Moreover, the visual style is distinctively creative, which a novelty for Bulgarian cinema.

What I found especially noteworthy is the humor with all the serious issues of the story are presented, not diminishing their significance, moreover highlighting them that makes the film also very entertaining and pleasant to watch.

The main premise is a love story that that however does not make TILT suitable only for younger audiences. The years the film is set to depict are important for Bulgarian history and familiar to a number of generations.

Overall, I recommend TILT to various audiences that enjoy quality filmmaking.

I didn't expect much and that's why I'm neither disappointed ,neither fascinated. We all know that the situation in 1989 was not pink. We all know a lot of stories, a lot of movies have been made about the so called"transition".And yet again the same story.I'm tired of watching the same story again and again. The forbidden love and the s****y communistic rules. The actors are new, they are fresh and may be they made me like the movie a little bit more that the others. So as a final: Not bad movie , could've been much better, but ... we can't change it now . It is not total crap , it is not an Oscar winning movie.

It took me a long time and some hard lessons to learn what I know about love, fate, and chasing redemption. Tilt story saw me beaten, loved, befriended, and chained on three continents. But it started with a simple choice, escape or die. Someone once told me that a dream is where a wish and fear meet. When the wish and the fear are the same, we call the dream a nightmare. Because I knew I could and because it would feel great. But mainly 'cause I knew I was right. That civilized people in large cities need places to gather and hunt. Officially, the law remains. It's just not enforced. Who gets to decide which laws get enforced and which ones don't? Someone once said the worst thing about corruption as a system of governance is that it works so well. Just amazing film with professional cast and crew, directing and writer.

Although many Bulgarian directors choose the fateful events of the end of 1989, and the subsequent transition to municipal democracy as background to their films, TILT is definitely not clichéd or melodramatic.

The story encompasses the fall of the Communist behemoth in Bulgaria and its metamorphosis in the early 1990s into the mafia that will corrupt a good part of the Bulgarian population in various ways.

My primary criticism in Bulgarian films used to be cinematography. TILT is, however, beautifully shot and the color grading accentuates the mood of the film.

The music/score was also superbly used, giving TILT a fresh breath of air. The storytelling was decent.

My only criticism of the film is the excessive use of profanity--after a while it felt forced.

10/10

I was led to believe that the last few years have marked a new beginning for the Bulgarian cinema since a series of TV shows and movies have been produced and the media mainstreamed the improved acting and directing. Being disappointed of what i saw during the last 10 years I respectfully decided to give this one a chance.

On the plus side I have to admit that acting have improved, but just a very tiny step forward has been made. The performance of Baharov and Georgi Staykov were satisfactory. There are a few funny moments as well - especially the poor German translation from one of the house mates in the house in Germany. As far as I can recall this ends the advantages.

The main flaw of this movie is the clear continuation of a script lacking any challenge for the viewer, which is the main issue of the last 20 years. Too simple, predictable, boring script, lacking twists and meaningless dialogues. In my view however the successive exploitation of the political transition period in the Bulgarian post- communist film making era is the major problem- we have had enough of this. Either they are still trying to create the Bulgarian Goodbye Lenin (far far away to get there with this one) or the directors cant figure out a relevant plot. The thing is that people are fed up with this topic and they want to see something more up to date and less politically soaked. Less depressing and a little bit brighter settings could also make a difference.

That is why I can say that there has been a slow movement from the disasters produced during the last 20 years in terms of acting but the main problems still exist. As much as I want to say it this could not be an Oscar 2012 even close to a nomination. In a nutshell improved acting, bad direction and a crappy story.