Bulgarian Lovers

If you have ever been involved with another guy from a former communist country who has absolutely nothing, you can relate to this film! Involved with an poor guy from ANY poor country? YOU CAN RELATE TO THIS FILM! You don't understand their culture, you don't understand their compatriots, their language or their relatives. This guy excites you TOTALLY and you don't really mind the growing drain on your pocketbook... You become more and more in love and more and more involved. The passion of it is exciting; so is the exotic nature of the whole thing including the travel to their home country. What are you getting into?

The movie is not only terribly boring, but it is a pain to watch: BANAL, BIASED, NO STORY, NO MEANING. It is a good idea for any director to first study the culture and mentality of a country before staining the name of a whole nation. The representation of Bulgaria is simplistic and one-sided. No doubt any Bulgarian would feel deeply offended by such distorted representation of his country. Second, the movie is more than explicit when it comes to male nudity. Nobody would mind to see a couple of passionate love scenes, but it is beyond the call of duty to have Dritan Beba (by the name of Kiril in the movie) walk around naked all or most of the time. Finally, the movie is simply dragging since there is really nothing happening. Even though the actors are believable in their personification of homosexuals, they are simply not convincing when it comes to human emotion. As a whole, the movie is a complete waste. I couldn't finish watching it and I guess nobody in his right mind would unless he's desperate to see gay porn.

This is one of the really bad films I have seen lately(thanks for the gratuitous nudity!). Beside the poor acting and lack of authenticity in the representation of the Bulgarian hunk, the meager Spaniard is regretful, the whole plot is brave but lacks back up from the cast and director. The generalizations about the Bulgarians are so hmmmm...general that they should be found offensive by anyone who is Bulgarian. (My friend is and she thought it was awful too). There are so many loose ends and discrepancies, the cast and acting are so naive and not convincing. The Spaniard who supposedly is a big fish and has a consulting firm is so dumbfound with love or desire for the BulG hunk, that he looks like an idiot. The solo shots of him looking at the camera and trying to deliver some sort of documentary feel to the movie do not fit, there is nothing that can save it.

Don't waste your time and money to rent this.

Gaymovies are most of the times a rather boring experience as most of the times the base is just the same : not being accepted. In this movie from director Eloy de la Iglesia (unknown, but so far he made 23 movies) is a bit different but the movie looses everything due to an unbelievable story. "Los novios bulgaros" stands for the new Bulgarians and that are, in Iglesia's eyes, men who come to Spain and in return for illegal papers they play gay whore for some rich men. I can imagine that for most of the Bulgarians this item is quite insulting and Iglesia thought it was even better to add some cliché in it as well by making the Bulgarians criminals who are smuggling radio-active weapons. I dunno if Iglesia wanted to make a James Bondmovie in his dream rather than coming up with some real issues but if it was his goal to touch some modern problems of the current society (refugees who have to sell their body) then he lost it completely here. All by all the film is quite okay to watch but at one point Iglesia tries to defense a minority group by offending the others. From a cinematographic point of view you don't have to seek for surprises as well as is it just a bland job.

Another of the reviews here has it right: the attraction of someone from a foreign and backwater culture very different from one's own to an affluent -- hence more powerful -- person whose own culture betrays elements of decadence is unlikely to portend anything good.

There is as well something of the whiff of upper class meets lower class here. I am reminded of Christopher Isherwood's opus in which that theme is played out in Berlin and Spain even as this one is. The writers of this novel and film are covering ground trod before. I do not find this questionable, and indeed I think there is a universal element at work here. That involves the age-old theme of someone with money and social standing besotted by a physically attractive and naive but appealing person who lacks those other attributes. Sometimes it works out, like Pygmalion, but most of the time it is doomed from the start.

The question here is whether the story or the film itself is any good. I thought it was something of a mixed bag. It seemed to me compelling in some parts, as in its vivid depiction of social and cultural distinctions or its clearly professional production values; but I felt less certain of the plot. Although the character of Daniel is completely open and obvious, and even Kyril is vaguely recognizable in both his person and background, the connections to third parties seem forced and improbable. It would have been a more successful film had it concentrated on developing internal conflict rather than hopping about Europe. Sometimes less is more.