Blaga's Lessons

This is a tough-talking film, following its own logic to the most chilling ending I can remember in any movie ever. Blaga's troubles and the choices she makes to solve them are charted with crystal-clear, dispassionate directing, photography, writing, editing and acting -- this last in a tour-de-force by Bulgarian veteran Eli Skorcheva. There's tremendous power in the control of pace exerted by.director-cowriter Stephen Komandarev. I don't remember seeing anything quite like this before. Blaga's dilemma is the kind of thing the Coens might create, but their tone would never be as real-world as this is. The question the film puts is: would we behave any differently to Blaga in the circumstances in which she finds herself?