{"id":8276,"date":"2010-02-22T20:14:38","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T04:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=8276"},"modified":"2010-02-22T22:16:12","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T06:16:12","slug":"the-world-is-big-and-salvation-lurks-around-the-corner-stephan-komandarev-2008-bulgaria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=8276","title":{"rendered":"The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (Stephan Komandarev, 2008): Bulgaria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Nicholas Berquist<\/a>. \u00a0Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Regardless of their flaws, some films have the rare ability to relate to an audience and become perfect in their imperfections.\u00a0 Stephan Komandarev\u2019s The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner<\/a><\/em> has this rare ability.\u00a0 In the sixteen months since the film\u2019s release (October 2008) it has won several audience choice awards at international festivals such as Zurich, Warsaw, and Sofia International festivals.\u00a0 Though the film moves slowly and has somewhat hastily finished subplots it left me completely satisfied and I immediately felt like telling my own grandfather how much I love him.<\/p>\n

The film begins by introducing us to the protagonist, Bai Dan.\u00a0 He is the king of backgammon in his native village in Bulgaria.\u00a0 Here, backgammon is not played for money out of respect for your opponent and for the game.\u00a0 Then the film jumps forward twenty some years where we see a car in a violent accident.\u00a0 Sashko, Bai Dan\u2019s grandson, is the only survivor of the accident the two other passengers are dead.\u00a0 They were his parents.\u00a0 Sashko has no memory of anything before the accident and doesn\u2019t even recognize Bai Dan when he walks into the hospital room.\u00a0 Bai Dan knows in his heart he can make Sashko remember by teaching him backgammon.\u00a0 What unfolds from there is a wonderful story about how far we will go to help those in our family.<\/p>\n

For such a heartwarming, complex story Komandarev didn\u2019t make things any easier.\u00a0 Because this tale takes place during two time periods the chronology is often broken up.\u00a0 One story is about Sashko and his parents fleeing the Soviets, the other is about Bai Dan and Sashko returning to Bulgaria.\u00a0 The screenwriting is excellent, but this aspect is often difficult to perfect.\u00a0 It was at times disorienting and unfulfilling, as the better of the two stories was most definitely Sashko and his grandfather.<\/p>\n

One scene that\u2019s sure to make us all remember our dear grandfathers is when Saskho and Bai Dan are on a tandem bike travelling across Europe.\u00a0 Bai Dan is asking Sashko to use his imagination and tell him what the other cars are listening to on the radio.\u00a0 At first Sashko is reluctant but the persistence and love from Bai Dan forces him to comply.\u00a0 This scene really brings out the character of these two men: Bai Dan as the loving, caring guardian and Sashko as the reluctant, wary youth who can\u2019t remember who they are.\u00a0 Both actors are talented and believable, but Miki Majojlovic (Bai Dan) really steals the show.<\/p>\n

Cinematically, this film really brought it.\u00a0 Utilizing everything from tripods, to cranes, to handhelds, this film really was spectacular to look at.\u00a0 That may be enhanced by the European countryside, but someone had to decide what to shoot and what not.\u00a0 Something that really was eye-catching was the way the story was introduced.\u00a0 For those of you familiar with Martin Scorsese you will feel right at home during the film\u2019s introduction.\u00a0 The camera moves around a lot with a narrator describing characters as the camera pans over them.\u00a0 I feel like this method was literally stolen from Goodfellas<\/em>!\u00a0 Komandarev did everything we ask of the so-called \u201cA-List\u201d directors and therefore deserves your money.\u00a0 Go see The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner<\/em> no matter how long it takes to say the title!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Nicholas Berquist. \u00a0Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Regardless of their flaws, some films have the rare ability to relate to an audience and become perfect in their imperfections.\u00a0 Stephan Komandarev\u2019s The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner has this rare ability.\u00a0 In the sixteen months since the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":794,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films","category-santa-barbara-film-festival-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/794"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}