Sofia

Warden of the Dead

Pazachyt Na Myrtvite (Bulgaria)

By JAY WEISSBERG

A Camera production, in association with Bulgarian National Television. Produced by Dimitar Gotchev, Zahari Paunov. Executive producer, Zahari Paunov. Directed, written by Ilian Simeonov.
 
With: Vladimir Georgiev, Samuel Fintzi, Itzhak Fintzi, Diana Dobreva, Nikolai Urumov, Malin Krastev, Plamen Sirakov, Dobrin Dosev, Valentin Tanev, Dimitar Nikolov, Liudmila Miteva, Maria Sapunjieva, Dimitar Terziev, Grozdan Daskalov, Liubka Aleksieva, Rumena Trifonova, Emil Atanasov.

 

With its cemetery locale and unidentified conflict as backdrop, "Warden of the Dead" could be seen as a metaphor for Balkan society. But helmer Ilian Simeonov's unfocused screenplay throws so much into the mix that any pointed commentary is lost. Uncontrolled story of a serious-minded tween living and working in a graveyard wants to have it all, but more Kafka (or Jessica Mitford) and less "Carrie" would have made a genuine statement. Chances away from home soil look slim.

A nameless orphan (Vladimir Georgiev) is the semi-official director of the cemetery he's grown up in; he's assisted by artist Ivan (Samuel Fintzi), who makes up the corpses. The two are friends with Angel (Itzhak Fintzi), an old man whose nemesis is buried at pic's start. The dead guy stole Angel's g.f. more than 30 years earlier and sent him to the gulag, so for Angel his death is a longed-for victory.

But now Angel has no further reason to live and, when the kid predicts someone will die in 10 days, everyone assumes it's Angel. Maria (Diana Dobreva), the deceased's daughter, befriends the kid and soon suspects that Angel is her real father. Meanwhile, under cover of night, the army has been bringing piles of bodies for burial, victims of a war continually glimpsed in news reports.

So what's all this saying? The kid (the people in the region) hardly ever leaves the cemetery (the Balkans). Imbued with certain telekinetic powers (Central European magical realism), he tries to ensure the efficient running of his small territory, but it's being invaded by a nameless army burying war dead (every regional conflict from the First Balkan War to the Kosovo conflict). The artist is unable to ply his trade (lack of opportunities), while Maria, raised by a party apparatchik but really the offspring of a dissident, struggles to find her identity (womanhood awakening from communism).

Sprinkled with spooky "Sixth Sense" elements and uncertain where to focus attention, pic stretches its heavy-handed metaphors beyond sustainability. Visuals have occasional power, and location work in the cemetery captures the feel of a place apart; however, on print caught, color needed further correction. Choral swells in the musical score are unnecessary.

Camera production, in association with Bulgarian National Television. Produced by Dimitar Gotchev, Zahari Paunov. Executive producer, Zahari Paunov.
Directed, written by Ilian Simeonov. Camera (color), Dimitar Gotchev; editors, Svetlana Kirilova, Simeonov; music, Teodosi Spasov; production designer, Nikolay Karamfilov; costume designer, Doriana Kebedjieva; sound (Dolby Digital), Svetlozar Georgiev. Reviewed at Sofia Film Festival (Bulgarian Features), March 9, 2007. Running time: 104 MIN.