Cinema
Three Reservists
Тримата от запаса
Zako Heskiya · 1971
Synopsis
In 1945, the First Bulgarian Army is fighting in Hungary against German troops. Three reservists join the front: Ivan, a Sabbatarian who refuses to hold a rifle, Peyo, a newlywed who thinks only of his wife, and Spiro, who courts a beautiful Hungarian woman, Ilonka. Nothing has prepared them for war, and their clumsiness at first leads their commander to want to send them home. They stay all the same, and the tragedies of the front catch up with them when the German attack comes.
Context
The film rests on a screenplay by Pavel Vejinov and on three actors, Georgi Partsalev, Nikola Anastasov and Kiril Gospodinov, with Valtcho Kamarachev. Partsalev, known for his comic roles, plays a character whose gravity and humanity are surprising. The director had made his debut a few years earlier by adapting a story by Yordan Raditchkov, a film selected for competition at the Cannes festival; with that film, he remains one of the names of popular cinema at the Boyana studio.
Who it is for
A war comedy of ninety-seven minutes, which can be followed without knowing anything about the Hungarian front; no French version has been found.
Prizes and reception
One of the best-loved Bulgarian films, admitted to the golden fund of national cinema; at Varna, Kiril Gospodinov received the prize for best actor.
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