Grimossfer
Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Quiet Muffin
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Cissy Évelyne
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
moni
My on my, where to start with... First of all, I really truly madly deeply wanted to like this movie. It couldn't be otherwise because prior to the premiere there was such a big media invasion on all the TV and radio stations and Javor Gardev was flowing from water and gas pipes telling us how f.cking great this movie is. So I went and paid 5 euro for the ticket (this is about 1/20th of the minimal month salary here). Then I entered the cold and ugly, almost socialistic dirty theater and tuned myself for watching a masterpiece. Then I was blown away. But not with something great. Literally the first words shows how poor in soul the scriptwriter and the director were. It starts with showing feces, stupidity, foul language, genitals and unusual sex scenes like some B-movie from the 80's. The script is inevitably bad, even for a post soc Bulgarian movie, with plot holes larger than black hole in the Universe and wooden and totally meaningless lines filled with pretentious philosophical stereotypes. All the time I was getting into the impression I was watching someone's training work. Well, not really. There are so many snitches from well known movies and directors that I can't really count all of them. As if Gardev was getting into Tarantino's mind (but without having all the money) and was assembling a movie from the small pieces of all the movies he had been watching.Some of them include: Main idea snatched from "Crank" (the main character is poisoned and ought to die in one night, so the whole action takes one night)Script snatched from "Snatch" (the run for the (black) diamond and other ideas) Slow motion and other moves from "Trainspotting" Scenes taken directly from "Pulp Fiction" (the torture scene with Bruce Willis at the basement) Scenes taken directly from "Sin City" (for example when Bruce Willis falls on the board) Script snatched from "Revolver" (the main character ought to die in several hours so he starts giving a sh*t about everything) Scenes snitched from the TV movie "Statskiy Sovetnik" (The State Counsellor) at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450158/ - the run in the women's bathroom and other scenes Then it becomes even funnier. There are two scenes snitched directly from soc classic series here in Bulgaria (I am sure you have never heard of them, but count on my words, it was truly classic) - "Na vseki kilometar" (At each kilometer) at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238439/, I used to notice two entirely copied scenes - the chasing in the Perlova River's channel, the tramway pioneer's sequence... All in all, I must say that using a foul language coupled with totally unbelievable, grotesque and inane characters does NOT a great movie made. Besides, the actor's play was bad to mediocre, with the only two noticeable exceptions - the main character Moth and Djoko Rossich, who is well known cinema professional. This is something most new Bulgarian movies suffer with - no one of the good theatrical actors have any experience with cinema, and I am constantly under impression I am watching TV version of the theatrical play. The lead female character was past all belief bad. Having really good actresses here I can't really explain why non-professional was ever cast. Her eroticism was non-existent. Even the sex scene at the end was flat and empty. At the very predictable end I was empty. I know that the movie has to have some double or hidden meaning, but the people in the audience doesn't seem to have caught it. BTW, from about 50 people in the theater I was one of the dozen ones to watch the movie till the end. And that's saying something. This is soctrash movie with no value so I don't recommend anyone watching it.
Shark_Attacks
I must say I am not a fan of Bulgarian cinema even though I am a Bulgarian myself. All the films I have seen until this point were very disappointing and could only be compared between themselves because films outside Bulgaria had always stood above in terms of cinematography, acting,Direction, Budget etc. Of course many would say this is not true, films during socialism period were many more and much better in terms of quality. While this is true that certainly does not make them foreign standard. The acting is more like theatrical than cinematic and the picture quality has more white spots on it than mount Everest, not to even mention the Sound. Cinema after 1990s had not improved much. I do not remember when I heard about Zift, I think I found it on IMDb, so I decided to check out the Trailer. I was blown away, for the first time in my life I was so excited about seeing a Bulgarian film. Yes It did took me a while since I live in the UK but I did saw it yesterday.After seeing it I felt depressed and had mixed feelings about it.I am going to analyse the film in positives and negatives. Positives: - First Bulgarian neo-noir film - First Bulgarian film successfully presents the Thriller and Action elements in genre. - Very Good acting, especially from the Zahary Baharov and Djoko Rosic - First Bulgarian film to use cgi, I know this could be a negative but in this case it is used very well. - Monologue is absolutely outstanding in some parts. - Unlike most recent Bulgarian films this one is not set around just one location. - For its small Budget, a very good recreation of 1960s Sofia. - Awesome Soundtrack - Good Humor in places. Negatives: - Too short, 85 minutes felt too short to fully achieve its potential. - Many unnecessary scenes involving downgrade humanity and dialogue which focus on 'toilet humour' - Too much nudity, this is something which all Bulgarian films suffer from but this one takes it on another level.(This may not be a negative to all but I generally do not like too much nudity, I believe there is different films for that purpose.)Overall I believe the positives overcome the negatives and In conclusion I must say I liked Zift even though by no means its a masterpiece. It is very likely to be enjoyed by people who are fans of films like, Trainspotting, Irreversible, Requiem for a Dream, The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover and Tarantino's work.
stefan_kz_bg
This is the top of the Bulgarian film industry,I think.Not forever,but for the past 25-30 years.This is the Bulgarian movie,that has the biggest chance of winning ANY award worldwide.It's about the drama,the innovative story told by it,and the acting.The old school Bulgarian actors like Djoko Rosich for example,along with the younger actors,made a great masterpiece of the already brilliant script. My new favorite film,getting "The Shawshank redemption" off the top. Congratulations Bulgaria,you made me proud with your present achievement for the first time.You made me proud with your past only,but until I saw this! 10/10 from me!
rivarix
This movie has given back to me the hope that Bulgarian cinema is going upward! Tha last few bg titles that i've seen all seemed to have a problem - they were weird (in terms of plot, acting, locations, camera angles). And just because a movie is tragic, strange, original and twisted doesn't mean it's good. Yes, maybe it can move you. Maybe. Maybe one can admit that the movie is totally genuine. But that still doesn't mean it's a masterpiece. Something is just missing for the movie to be enjoyable and moving while you're in the theater and mind blowing when you get out and think it over. The missing parts probably are the perfect storyline of Zift, the look of Zift, the action of Zift, the soundtrack of Zift, the grotesque humor of Zift! That's what makes the film of Yavor Gardev so successful - perfection itself!
