Sneakers (2011)

Kecove: Bulgarian film about six people who become friends whilst escaping their lives in the city for a getaway at the beach on the Black Sea. Their time turns into all summer long, setting up a camp and meeting more people to enjoy spending each passing day with. There is basically no story whatsoever -- it's just a glimpse into part of their lives. The end is symbolic of the lost youth of today but a little too crazy to believe. Good acting and directing but due to lack of story, while interesting, it's not much more than a reality TV show. Still it kept me hanging on and I was thrilled to see my first movie from Bulgaria.7.0 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

It's nice to watch a movie that is filmed in Bulgaria. It's good when actors are Bulgarians and you know their faces. It's nice when you see someone claiming to do something big, but it's bad when what he does do not seem big.The film draws some characters, which have in common their apathetic attitude towards living in the big city and their non-realization in life. By chance they meet at a wild sea beach, get to know each other and have fun. Their presence on the beach is shown through their individual pain and desires. There they live truly, cohesively, happily. But as always it only lasts for a while and soon their situation is worse than it was before their arrival at the beach.Possible interpretation for the title of the film is as follows - sneakers, this is a period in the lives of young people before they become adults (it is not incidentally that one of the stories begins after burial which incite the deepest questions in life - those for its sense), the situation of the Bulgarian reality and its place in the world.The end of the film is sad and depressing because it shows that there is no way out for the fate of the main characters. We should accept them or forever doomed to unhappiness caused by urban reality or forever happy and carefree living on the beach.http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/

Six youngsters decide to leave the bleak and dreary city in order to spend the summer together at the seaside, seeking freedom, believing they will find it there. It sounds like the perfect story, one that will fascinate you and probably will leave (even a subtle)trace in the history of Bulgarian cinema. Partly due to all the media attention surrounding it, and yes, this is the Bulgarian submission for the Oscars, so expectations were pretty high. Unfortunately, in my opinion, "Sneakers" could not live up to them. No remarkable lines, no scenes that will be remembered but what's worse - no goal. Six youngsters, and they were heading nowhere. Why? Disappointed by the mundane reality? There did not seem to be any major obstacle between them and any possible life goals. Proud to be nobody? Proud to ask "what is your dream", "what is your idea" while not pursuing any ambition at all? Therefore, we end up with no likable characters and a rather empty movie where the most important spoiler would be that pretty much nothing happens until the last 15 minutes. My advice? If you want to catch a glimpse of the contemporary Bulgarian cinema, you'd better choose another movie.

Saw this film in the Bulgarian film festival a couple of days ago, possibly my very first Bulgarian-originated film ever. It is a superbly well-crafted adventurer of 6 strange youngsters congregate at an unknown beach near Sofia and experiences their carefree indulgence with the nature and rediscover a rite-of-passage in their respective inner journey.The film, elaborates magnificently a repressive malaise in the city in the beginning, especially with the ferocious tendency towards violence and unjustness. When the sea beach scenario pops up, the backbone of the story finally emerges, a stint of aimlessness is palatable but some interrupting fly-on-the-fall interviews on each character distract the somewhat weary idleness of the hedonistic rapture on the beach.A looming mishap is indomitably approaching, all frolic is doomed to be ephemeral, nevertheless the would-be THELMA & LOUISE (1991) ending curbs within a detour to an unrealistic escapism, which in my opinion points up an inconvenient situation of the downhill of a lost youth peer group, and it's not provincial, it's global. The final scene holds the stance of being drolly whimsical and a shade poignant simultaneously. The 6-packed cast is favorable in depicting an evocative harmony and the standouts are a tomboyish Marian Valev and the co-director-writer-actor of the film Valeri Yordanov, an intimidating look at first sight, but witty and cordial inside, which convincingly breaches the stereotype of skinheads and tattooers. Visually abundant, this film carries an audience-favored narrative and avoids melodramatic clichés to depict the otherwise easily hoarse mutual attractions among characters. It obtained an avid round of applause after the screening, and it was an indeed pleasure for me to fetch an opportunity to watch something recommendable from countries lesser known for their film productivity.