The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (Stephan Komandarev, 2008): Bulgaria/Germany

Reviewed by Mathew Roscoe, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

As intimidating as the extremely long title may be, do not worry, as this Bulgarian gem has turned out to be one of the audience favorites. An enchanting, inspiring, and exquisitely crafted tale, The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner is such a rich experience with so many strong elements that any flaws can either be missed, forgotten, or forgiven.

It begins with Aleksander ‘Sashko’ Georgiev, a handsome young Bulgarian who left his home with his parents as a young boy to live in Germany. After a catastrophic car accident kills his parents and gives him amnesia, Sashko wakes up in the hospital having know idea who he is, and does not even recognize his own grandfather when he comes to visit him in the hospital. In hopes of curing his amnesia, the grandfather produces a double-seated bicycle and takes Sashko on a long, spiritual journey to the country where they came from, stopping at all the sites and landmarks that played a key role in Sashko’s life. Throughout this journey, Grandpa plays backgammon with Sashko, a simple yet ingeniously complex game that he taught him as a kid. The delicate balance of chance, skill, and instinct required to excel in the game becomes the underlying metaphor of the spiritual, cross-country journey as well as the movie itself. Parallel to this main storyline is a series of flashbacks chronicling the tale of how Sashko and his parents had to leave Bulgaria in the first place, often mirroring the present storyline as Sashko revisits a key element of his past. As they go through all the towns and places of Sashko’s past, his memories gradually begin to come back to him. And soon, the journey all adds up to a profound conclusion where Sashko challenges his champion grandfather to a final game of backgammon.

This is one of those rare films in which just about every element comes together wonderfully, both in terms of story and in filmmaking. Stephan Komandarev directs his multi-layered, symbolic script to great effect, bringing all of the rich details and metaphors out to a clear yet subtle extent. And his characters are vividly brought to life by the excellent acting of the two main leads. Carlo Ljubec brings likeability and humanity to his character, and we really feel for him as he finally starts unlocking his past. The grandfather is portrayed through an Oscar-worthy performance by veteran actor Miki Manojlovic, who gives his role the powerful, rugged charisma of a weather-beaten master of his craft, as well as a warming charm and sympathy that paints the portrait of a man who, in spite of what he’s been through, has nothing but undying love for his family and his roots. These two quality performances work well of of each other, as the two create a very realistic chemistry that perfectly captures the relationship of a grandfather and his grandson.

That being said, the film is stunning at a technical standpoint as well. The cinematography by Emil Hristow is nothing short of incredible, perfectly capturing the gorgeous, vast countryside throughout the course of their road trip. Every scene is vividly staged, capturing the moment to its most minute details. Some of the camera movements are very impressive as well, such as the tracking of the duo when they are riding the bike, where the camera maintains a great look at the actors’ faces even though they are on a moving vehicle, thus allowing the actors to have full dialogue scenes whilst riding the bike. One shot that really captured my attention is an exquisite crane shot during the final backgammon game that perfectly sets up the significance of the scene. Just as impressive as the cinematography is the editing by Nina Altaparmakova. Throughout the movie, the editing seamlessly goes back and forth between the main narrative and the flashback narrative. The greatest example is again during the final tournament, in which there is an absolutely stunning, back-and-forth graphic match between Sashko’s final dice throw and the rolling car that took away his memory.

While the movie might have some minor flaws, such as a slightly shallow romance subplot, the vast majority of the film’s elements are so brilliantly executed that they completely overshadow any flaws that there may be. This was one of the very best films of this year’s festival, one that will take you on a spiritual journey as enthralling as the one Sashko embarks on.