A doctor saves a dissident's life. Communism rewards him with 20 years of hell.
Two trains uncontrollably move towards each other within temporal boundaries of a human life. One of them is taking a genial young man to his unforeseen future; he would marry his beloved; have a son; become a brilliant doctor; do his duty and save the live of enemies of the communist regime; get a 20-years sentence for that. Prison would turn out to be an unbearable nightmare; his wife would eventually give in to the tortures of the authorities and seek divorce; this would mean no one to visit him in prison. 15 years without any news about his child, only a snapshot of his family on which the tree of them are smiling and happy.
Acting
Paraskeva Djukelova's Kalina shatters under impossible pressure.
Writing
The train metaphor isn't subtle—it's sledgehammer poetry that works.
Director
Stanimir Trifonov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bulgaria's communist era remains largely unexplored in Western cinema; this film excavates personal archives of silence and shame that official histories ignore.
BG
