Gore na chereshata

This is a children's film where impetus derives from young actor Veselin Prahov who made his debut at six in 'Dog in a Drawer'. Rada Moskova wrote both films and similarity between them lies in the main subject: the endeavor to preserve the last remains of the romantic civilization of childhood under the condition of modern city life. The action takes place during the summer holidays in a city quarter where the new blocks of flats are still surrounded by a few old houses, which still have cherry trees in the yard. The loft of one such house serves as secret hideout of group of young children. Living close-by is the well-known violinist Mincho Minchev (who plays himself in the film) with whom the children communicate well than with their own parents. The film ends with the question: what is going to happen once the bulldozers arrive and start demolishing the romantic houses which have been preserving our dreams and memories? Wouldn't they take away something of our childhood?

A brilliant film from an era when Bulgarian cinema did not need to be pompous to be poignant. Held together by the lead Veselin Prahov this seemingly simple story delivers on so many levels. Today it works both as a light-hearted retrospection and as incisive social commentary. The tone is pitch-perfect throughout and not a single scene seems out of place. I was perhaps slightly more impacted than the average audience member would be, as the film is shot just a block away from where I grew up as a kid myself, in a house not much different from the protagonist's, but regardless this is a wonderful thought-provoking picture that is so much more than the sum of its seemingly modest parts.