The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner
8.2 /10 1 Votes
Director Stephan Komandarev | 8/10 IMDb Genre Drama Duration Country BulgariaGermanySloveniaHungary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Language BulgarianGermanItalianSlovenian Release date March 14, 2008(SIFF premiere)October 10, 2008(worldwide release) Initial release October 10, 2008 (Bulgaria) Screenplay Stephan Komandarev, Dusan Milic, Yuri Datchev Cast (Alex 'Sashko' Georgiev), Predrag Miki Manojlović (Bai Dan), Hristo Mutafchiev (Vasil 'Vasko' Georgiev), Ana Papadopulu (Yana Georgieva), Lyudmila Cheshmedzhieva (Baba Sladka), Nikolai Urumov (State Security Agent)Similar movies Migrations II , Migrations , Si le vent soulève les sables , 400 Bags , Soursweet , Parrot at the Milk Bar Tagline The story of Alex, who, with the help of his charismatic grandfather, embarks on a journey in search of his real self. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The world is big and salvation lurks around the corner
The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner is a 2008 Bulgarian drama film, co-produced with Slovenia, Germany and Hungary. Its original Bulgarian title is Светът е голям и спасение дебне отвсякъде (transliterated as Svetat e golyam i spasenie debne otvsyakade), literally meaning The World is Big and Salvation Prowls on All Sides. (correct - "... is Lurking from Everywhere.")
Contents
The film is directed by Stefan Komandarev and stars Miki Manojlović, Carlo Ljubek, Hristo Mutafchiev and Ana Papadopulu. It is based on the eponymous autobiographic novel by Bulgarian-German writer Ilija Trojanow.
The film has received generally favorable reviews from film critics and audiences around the world, having received more than 20 festival awards. On January 20, 2010 it was revealed that the film had been selected among the nine films that will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 82nd Academy Awards.
Plot
In a small Bulgarian provincial town during the 1980s, factory worker Vasil 'Vasko' Georgiev (Hristo Mutafchiev) has problems with the local Communist Party agent (Nikolai Urumov) who wants Vasko to monitor and report on the activities of his father-in-law, Bai Dan (Miki Manojlović). Bai Dan is the local "King of Backgammon" and is accused by the local authorities of conducting an illegal workshop in which he repairs bicycles and manufactures backgammon sets. Facing a moral dilemma, Vasko decides to emigrate beyond the Iron Curtain to Western Europe with his wife Yana (Ana Papadopulu) and his son Aleksander 'Sashko' (played as a child by Blagovest Mutafchiev). The family succeeds in crossing the border to Italy but face the prospect of lengthy detention in a bleak refugee camp until Vasko is able to pay for them to be smuggled into Germany.
The opening sequences jump abruptly from the birth of Sashko to the 2007 autobahn car accident in which his parents are killed on their way back to Bulgaria for the first time since their emigration. Sashko (played as an adult by Carlo Ljubek) is taken to a hospital with amnesia. His grandfather Bai Dan decides to go to Germany and try to help Sashko restore his past. He starts teaching him to play backgammon. After refusing to play, Sashko is forced by his grandfather to leave the hospital and to start a journey with him on a tandem bicycle—a journey back to Bulgaria, to Sashko's past, and to romance and prospects of a happier future.
Awards
The film has received more than 20 awards at festivals around the world:
2009
2008
References
The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner WikipediaThe World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner IMDb The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner themoviedb.org