First off I think it's necessary to explain as much as I can the historical background in Macedonia at that time so that non-Macedonians can understand the film more easily. Macedonia was occupied by the Ottoman Empire(modern Turkey) from late 14th century until 1912. Territorially Macedonia was much bigger than it is now. All of that changed during the Balkan wars (1912- 1913). Macedonia's neighboring countries gained independence in 19th century (mostly with help from Russia and UK). They assured Macedonia to help in getting rid of its occupier. They kept their promise during the first Balkan war during which Turkey was defeated. But their true plans surfaced soon enough which was to divide then-free Macedonia. And that's what happened , Greece got 50 % off the territory, Serbia and Bulgaria 20 % and Albania 5 %.The part that Serbia took was first part of the SFRY. After the breakup of the federation Macedonia became an independent country in 1991. So modern Macedonia is actually those 25 % off its original territory. That's why in the beginning of this movie there are Serbian flags, generals etc, even their anthem is sang when the football team came back from their first victory on the train station ( Macedonians refused to do it obviously). During WWII Bulgaria participated in the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece by letting German troops attack from its territory. As a reward, the Axis powers allowed Bulgaria to occupy parts of both countries (this included Macedonia). In regard to the movie I thought it was solid. Sasko Kocev and Katarina Ivanovska had mediocre performances, whereas Richard Sammel, Emil Ruben and Mitko Apostolovski were top- notch. The cinematography is also excellent.
I found the depiction of the history of Macedonian Jews grim and heartbreaking. However there were a lot of subplots that the director tried to incorporate into one story, and I thought that didn't leave out enough space nor time for each to fully develop. The ending was quite strong though, eventually the good things in life will prevail.
My vote is 7.9/10
I found the depiction of the history of Macedonian Jews grim and heartbreaking. However there were a lot of subplots that the director tried to incorporate into one story, and I thought that didn't leave out enough space nor time for each to fully develop. The ending was quite strong though, eventually the good things in life will prevail.
My vote is 7.9/10