Journey to Jerusalem
in Yellow, Blue, Green

In Bulgarian

If I am not wrong “Journey to Jerusalem” is the 13-th long length feature film directed by Ivan Nichev and thanks God there is nothing fatal in this number; on the contrary. The new film comes five years after Nichev’s exercise on a similar theme in “After the End of the World” - a film that according to my judgment was too much overburdened with courtesies to sponsors, co-producers and calculated interests around the world. Exercises are for better and always useful, in the case of the previous film it has obviously liberated the director from his constant worries for our cinema’s money less situation and as we see now he felt free to through away the notebook with the calculations.

Nichev returns to himself – with a no doubt productive partnership with Iurii Datchev in writing together the script. I mean that he returns to that cinema, story, characters and artistic vision that have marked all his carrier and his best achievements – starting from “Stars in the Hair, Tears in the Eyes” (1977) through “The Lonely People Ball” (1981), "Black Swans" (1984), "1952 - Ivan and Alexandra” (1988), "Love Dreams” (1994) till "Journey to Jerusalem" (2003).

Good films always remain an image in our senses. Sometimes it might be a concrete image, sometimes a "sentence" that matters, or it might be something more abstract. Like the yellow-blue-green association of the bright colors of the rainbow or the colors of a fair. During my second viewing of the film, I realized that Nichev’s journey to the Promised land will remain for me with those “parrot colors” and not only that they are intentionally laid on the screen by the director and the director of photography Georgi Nikolov, but that they are determined and are coming from the art nature of “Journey to Jerusalem”.

The very content of the film is interpreted through the “yellow-blue-green” colors used as creative approach. No doubt, this needs some kind of courage for the risks it bares- to fail in the context of the different layers by these colors, or they could be read from only one side by the audience. The very fact that the events on the screen grabs emotionally for compassion is an eloquent sign that the risks have been surpassed.

Ivan Nichev counts on a more conventional way in his own type of cinema, but leaving it behind for purely narrative stories with ambitious solutions. He has succeeded to find one of the possible adequate models for building a new bridge towards the audience, including a wider and far from pretentious audience. It was high time to witness how one of our good directors aims deliberately not to make a "festival film" (as complicated and unpleasant to view in the eyes of the wide public) and this film might open the doors to the cinema theatres, to the film forums, may it be so.

I have already mentioned that “Journey to Jerusalem” is a peculiar continuation of “After the End of the World” - concerning the subject in proving human equality no matter races, religions or ethnic belongings all seen into the pages of the dramatic history of the 20th century. This time the plot is salvation in Bulgaria of two German kids-Jews in their desperate running away from Hitler, which rhymes with the historic fact of the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during World War second. In other words the base is documentary (in the titles is underlined that the film is on a true story) on which Iurii Datchev and Ivan Nichev as scriptwriters start the construction of their fairy tale for the salvation of two little, sweet Jewish kids in big danger. Rescued by three poor, roaming along the roads actors, more a modest hocus-pocus company.

Drawing the borders of this fairy tale, the authors of the film load the burden of creating a very complicated mixture of historic context, story narrative and the specific genre. To my believe they have succeeded equally well to melt all three ingredients, to reach for the precious metal. On the territory of the story for the salvation of the Jewish kids the authors deal brilliantly with the danger and keep audience’s interest, while laying the mosaic of the adventures in something like an American road movie. The authors rule not only the story telling or the suspense but they equilibrate on the territory of the genre entertainment - in love story, as well as in song’s lyrics and illusions… Just on the edge of danger when as help for art arise the signs of evil from the historic context – the young Nazis, their big brothers and truly believing fathers.

It is really a solid construction. And it turns to be successful due to the perfect mix of the details of the three components that seem to be easy to predict: the primitiveness of the Bulgarians, the nobleness of the German officer; the symbolic of each character involved within this entertainment. The authors have used maximum of the genre traps to catch for the heart of the audience. Until they reach for this incredible cocktail of easy to predict, of historic signs, of genre pirouettes between comedy and tragedy and the variety has been mixed in doses of the archetypes - insidiously suggesting that human life is played as a theatre on two scenes in set up like one but with a gap between. On one of the scenes is the course of history and politics, the social life, the face of man taking part in this history, policy and social life. On the other scene, the same man is in his private dimensions, and necessities for comfort, entertainment, creativity, love and freedom all in conflict with the displayed on the previous scene. Moreover - this is the "measure" of our human absurdity.

“Journey to Jerusalem” is an offer to realize this absurdity - let not forget that the mission of art and in particular of theatre has always been exactly that. In addition, theatre in Nichev’s films has always been something like "leading character"… so nothing comes of nothing.

But theatre cannot live without actors. Without Elena Petrova (Zara), Alexander Morfov (Dimi) and Vassil Vassilev – Zueka (Sami), without their artistic gift animating life to their archetype personages, without their incredible way of entertaining us in the kingdom of different genre forms, nothing of the creativity of Iurii Datchev and Ivan Nichev could ever work. The same is true for the rest of the actors - Tatiana Lolova, Christo Gurbov, Georgi Rusev, Nikola Rudarov, Nikolai Urumov, Vassil Dimitrov, Christo Mutafchiev, Reni Vrangova… who helped the film authors to reincarnate on screen the theatre of life with the rainbow colors – in yellow-blue-green…(abridgment)

"Journey To Jerusalem" in Yellow, Blue, Green - in Culture newspaper

In English with little abridgments

Pre-modern, Modern, Post-modern with The Gaps Between in KINO magazine

Spiritual Cognition in Document, Image, Sound:

"In Especially Cruel Kind of Way" in KINO magazine

JULY STOYANOV in Culture newspaper

MICHAIL NEDELCHEV in Democratic Review magazine

TODOR ANDREIKOV in Democratic Review magazine

THE POSSIBLE IMPOSSIBLE FREEDOM: "THE PEOPLE v/s LARRY FLINT" in FILM magazine

Journey to  Jerusalem, 2003
Bulgaria/ Germany
Director - Ivan Nichev
Script - Iurii Dachev, Ivan Nichev
Cameraman - Georgy Nikolov
Music - Stefan Dimitrov
Actors: Elena Petrova (Zara), Alexander Morfov (Dimi) and Vassil Vassilev – Zueka (Sami), Bernd Mihael
Producers: Hans-Verner Honert, Ivan Nichev
Distribution Alexandra films