User reviews

When it comes to cinema as an art, the origin of the film should not bring any merits. However, this is exactly the case with virtually all Bulgarian movies that come up in recent years. The limited release of most new age Bulgarian films is not only the main reason for their unrealistic and ridiculously high scores predominantly given by Bulgarian viewers, but is also a proof of their low artistic and technical value given the general lack of foreign opinions and public.

Eastern Plays is by no means an exception. The main trait dooming this flick to mediocrity is its basic framework, which is a story of human decadence. Nothing new, nothing original. We have seen similar plots with similar characters in similar environments dozens of times in many earlier Eastern European films, and Eastern Plays is a typical example of Bulgaria's tardive pseudo-Renaissance in the domain of cinema.

A vague plot which attempts (and fails) to convince the viewer of an inner, deeper meaning and message, basically non-existing acting, poor dialogue and unimpressive and grim scenery are only a few of this pic's unremarkable components. Some point out "realism" as the strongest side of this film - it might be, but this is not an exciting realism. There is nothing inspiring nor touching in this bland and at times frankly repulsive mix of clichés, social sets and urban decay.

The sole value of this film would be that of a counterexample on how to make cinema. By all means, skip it - not worth the time.

Just watched Eastern Plays.. Guys this movie is s*it! I hate to say it with respect to Christo Christov(God rest his soul) whose performance was maybe the only good thing about the movie. I am so tired of all those "intellectual wanna-be" Bulgarian movies, that are made to be understood only by the author and need at least half an hour explanation. It is enough to read the synopsis, don't waste time to watch the whole thing. The original concept is good, so I cant believe the director was so bad that he couldn't manage to develop it. It was hard for me to watch it till the end and I was skipping through the numerous times when nothing was happening, which was half of the movie!!!.. And don't you dare to tell me I didn't understand it, it is true, I did not. There was nothing in this movie that will make me use my brain to understand the concept of it. It was the same pointless depressing reel that we're so used to watch("Shivachki"). The soundtrack was good (Nasekomix), but it wasn't well used. After watching "The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner" and "Zift", I thought there's still a future for Bulgarian cinema.. but honestly Eastern Plays brought me back to the reality. I will still however see Mission London. Wish me luck on this one =D Overall, if I could give this movie less than a star, I would've. I think that eastern European nationalism(which apparently the movie should be condemning) created this whole euphoria in Bulgaria over the movie, which I understand, but I don't think it's an actual reason to give a higher score for this movie. Still.. Rest In Peace Christo Christov