Director: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov
Talent: Stefan Denolyubov, Margita Gosheva
Released: 9 February
Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, the duo behind 2015’s bruising Bulgarian morality tale The Lesson, return with Glory, featuring much of the same cast. Pivoting on a David and Goliath narrative, Glory pits one honest everyday man against the machinations of tricky Eastern European politics.
Tsanko Petrov (Stefan Denolyubov) is a simple and very private railroad linesman who stumbles across bundles of cash abandoned on the train lines. Rather than keep the money himself or split it between his fellow workers – previously pictured siphoning gas from the trains – he reports his finding. The head of the PR department for the Ministry of Transport Julia Staikova (Margita Gosheva) immediately plans a hero’s ceremony and presents Petrov with a new watch, misplacing his family heirloom watch in the process. This simple mishap sets in motion an unforeseeable chain of events and when the search for his watch goes unresolved, Petrov falls in with Kiril Kolev, a reporter who, although he has a genuine agenda, uses and coerces Petrov.
From the offset, Petrov is silently staggered under the weight of expectation, personal ethics and social pressure. His demeanour, terrible stutter and lowly status position him as the joker of the piece. People have little time for him and more effort is put into his award show and his appearance than actually getting to know the real man and making sure he is comfortable.
The behind the scenes observations of the goings-on within the Ministry are a marvel, moving fast and relentlessly. Staikova is seen as the dedicated career-obsessed professional who always puts the job first and has an over-reliance on mobile phones, an issue that grates a little as the film progresses. The singular subplot – doctors appointments revolving around the freezing of her embryos – is clearly linked to show her devotion to the job and therefore her later actions won’t seem so extraordinary. This was perhaps unnecessary. Her resolve is already cemented. In contrast to the daily admiration Staikova receives, Petrov’s consummate professionalism is only admired when it benefits those around him. As he finds out.
Though the camera lingers a little too long on Petrov’s stammering at times and there is little or no back history to the man, he is a sadly loveable and sympathetic figure. Against Staikova they make an oddly engaging duo that propels the film along at a fine pace towards it’s powerful denouement. It’s not always an easy film to watch but as morality tales go, much like 2015’s The Lesson, this offers a fascinating glimpse into a side of Bulgarian life we may know little about.
Words: Shane O’Reilly
