Cinema
Time of Violence
Време разделно
Lyudmil Staikov · 1988
Synopsis
In 1668, the Ottoman authorities want to make an example of a Christian valley of the Rhodopes, Elindenya, in conversion to Islam. A detachment of janissaries arrives there, led by Karaibrahim, taken as a child from these mountains. The governor, Süleyman Aga, at first prefers persuasion. Among the inhabitants is Manol; the Orthodox priest Aligorko and a Venetian slave are the witnesses of these days of forced conversion.
Context
The film is based on Anton Donchev's novel, published in 1964, with cinematography by Radoslav Spasov and music by Georgi Genkov, with Yossif Sartchadjiev as Karaibrahim and Roussi Tchanev as the Orthodox priest. Presented in March 1988 in two parts, that is two hundred and eighty-eight minutes, it was distributed abroad in a short version. Recent studies link it to the campaign of forced assimilation then waged against the country's Turks, known as the revival process.
Who it is for
Two parts and nearly five hours of a sweeping, violent reconstruction; it is better to know the political context of its making.
Prizes and reception
Selected at Cannes, in the Un certain regard section, and voted viewers' favourite film in a national television poll for the centenary of Bulgarian cinema.
Sources for this page 10
The pages consulted to check this page.