SHUMEN
COMMON GRID TO ANALYSE A FILM
THE
WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS AROUND THE CORNER
1. Basic information
about the film: director, title, characters, production, year of production.
Directed by STEPHAN
KOMANDAREV;
title – THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS
AROUND THE CORNER;
characters - Bai Dan (MIKI
MANOJLOVIĆ), Alex (adult) (CARLO LJUBEK), Alex (child) (BLAGOVEST MUTAFCHIEV), Vasko (HRISTO
MUTAFCHIEV ), Yana (ANNA PAPADOPULU), Grandma Sladka (LYUDMILA CHESHMEDZIEVA), Ivo
Chikagoto (VASSIL VASSILEV - ZUEKA);
production companies form BULGARIA, GERMANY,
SLOVENIA and HUNGARY;
year of production- 2008
2. Where the film is set and in what
period?
The action takes place in Bulgaria during 1980s when the
country was under communist regime. The film is also set in Germany in modern times (2007).
3. Short summary of the plot
The movie tells the story of
Alexander Georgiev, the main character, who lost his
parents in a car accident. As a result, he does not remember anything from his
past because it turns out that he suffers from amnesia. A long time ago in his
early years Alexander and his parents emigrated to Germany
during the oppressive communist era in Bulgaria. The reason for this
important decision comes from his father’s refusal to spy on Alexander’s
grandfather Bai Dan. In order to escape from Bulgarian
authorities the family chooses to emigrate beyond the Iron Curtain. After more
than 20 years in Germany
they decide to visit their home country. However, on their way to Bulgaria
a car accident happens and Alexander’s parents die. He is in a German hospital
and has amnesia. Then his grandfather Bai Dan, known
as the King of the Backgammon, arrives in Germany to look after him. He tries
to restore Alexander’s memories by taking him on a bicycle journey to his
hometown in Bulgaria.
Moreover, Bai Dan starts teaching his grandchild play
backgammon again. In the course of the journey Alexander gradually restores his
memories and learns that even though the world is big, salvation lurks around
the corner.
4. Things that particularly
impressed you about the film
One
of the things that particularly impressed students is how the game backgammon
is revealed like a masterpiece, which becomes the bridge between reality and
the world we need to live in. The game is shown as a salvation, the tool with
which you learn how to overcome fears and problems in your life. The other
thing which impressed them is that comedy and drama are mixed together,
creating a mixture of a very detailed scenario, designed to perfection.
The students consider impressive the
scenes in which Alexander and his parents were held in an Italian refugee camp
while they were trying to find asylum in Germany. This part of the film is
important because it gives an inside view of the universal difficulties and
hard living conditions of emigration.
5. The music: does it convey
specific themes/messages?
The
music also is in place, getting the right brinks of emotion raising in you with
particular scenes and revealing of the plot. It conveys messages about the feelings of the
characters.
The official soundtrack of the movie, in
particular, the song Backgammon Dice by The Festival Band sounds optimistic. It
conveys the message that there is hope no matter what happens. In one episode
of the film a famous Bulgarian clarinetist Ivo Papazov plays music. In this case his music expresses the
temper and vitality of the Balkans.
6. What is the message of the film
and what did you learn from it?
The message of the film is that despite
difficulties in life, there always is light at the end of the tunnel. We should
never give up and lose heart because hope helps us to survive.
7. What would you change in the
film?
Some students don’t like the way events are
shown in the storyline of the movie. Most of them wouldn’t change anything about the film.
see also in
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