Chicho Koleda

Story is nice, but there were too many flaws for more than 6 out of 10. Acting was mediocre (with some exceptions). Uncle Claus was barely present in the film. Music was terribly loud compared to actor's voices. Camera work was ok, but unimpressive. Editing was too rough. There were too many minor roles and all the action was scattered across the entire film. As if the Director was trying to create a role for every Bulgarian actor there is. This resulted in many weak side stories which were drawing away viewer's attention from the main one. There are around 20 secondary roles. Writers tried to create background for all of them by spending screen time for all. A regular viewer cannot even remember 20 character names for a 2 hour movie, let alone to try following the constant switching between them.

The film started slow and this resulted in a quite rushed ending, because all the side stories had to be concluded. And somewhere around them they stick the main story, which felt more of a side story. There were many unnecessary scenes which brought zero value. Instead of a movie, It would look much better if it was a theater play or a TV series.

The director tried to include too much of everything, but it only takes 2-3 "things" for a movie to be good.