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Regular
Price $14.99
Starring:
Fernando Guillén Cuervo,
Dritan Biba,
Pepón Nieto,
Roger Pera,
Anita Sinkovic,
Directed By:
Eloy de la Iglesia,
Rated: Unrated
Release Date: 2002
Studio: TLA Releasing
Format:
Closed-captioned,
Color,
DVD-Video,
Subtitled,
Widescreen,
NTSC,
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Customer Reviews for
Bulgarian Lovers - Unrated Edition
Clever, tightly plotted Euro-noir
A film noir in lgbt disguise, this movie puts together the appropriate elements--rueful narrator, love betrayed, clues to the conclusion--in fast-paced and clever manner. I found myself laughing out loud; the film deserves several viewings. Why the opening cigarette lighter? Why details as to nodding one's head for 'no'? Close watching will tell in this tight and taut, elegant Euro-mystery. While the in-jokes may be most available to those who understand Spanish, the naked stud can be enjoyed by all. If you like Hitchcock's classic, Strangers on a Train, this neo-noir will pick you up and leave you laughing, hitting the play button once again.Bulgarian Lovers - Unrated Edition
yet another zenophobic movie about eastern europeans
In my opinion this movie is a load of bollocks...for starters it is a historical fact that bulgarians are one of the most if not the most accepting country in respect to other nationalities. there are more mosques in Sofia today than christian churches and Bulgarians are CHRISTIANS! Furthermore the nation had a high intake of Koreans (guess which part of Korea) during the Vietnam War....I doubt Bulgaria is a nation of drug thugs and terrorists....in fact the country just got accepted into the UNION. The zenophobia of the director is tiresome and his cheap tactic at using a somewhat still obscure name for a country ie Bulgaria as a title for his movie is supposed to be what? bait to reel us in cos we never heard of the place????....this movie is nothing more than a cheaply veiled racial slur on a people older than time immemorial! A people who were the FIRST of the non CHRISTIANS to convert to CHRISTIANITY because they saw it for the practical path to trade and continuity of their blood line that it was...A people who translated the bible for their peole from the exclusive language of Latin to their own language in the 9th century when the ever so renowned English speaking races did not do so until the 13th century!!!!!!!!!!!!....why did the English (and Spanish too )take so long? Well what the people cannot read (because it is in Latin) can be used as the ultimate tool of suppression and coersion so why bother translating it until you really have to right?!!......now, you tell me who is the more liberated, caring, welfare focused, community based and EGALITARIAN - Bulgaria or the rest of the world!! Why doesn't someone make a movie about SOME OF REALLY INTERESTING THINGS THAT BULGARIA IS FAMOUS FOR !!!Bulgarian Lovers - Unrated Edition
Not 4 Straightlaced
Eloy de la Iglesia returns behind the camera after more than a decade to direct this 2002 flick "Bulgarian Lovers." It is a Spanish production, despite the title, and follows a love triangle with Daniel played by Fernando Guillen Cuervo as a mild mannered attorney who cruises gay bars and picks up the hungry Kyril played by Dritan Biba. Kyril speaks about his fiancee back in Bulgaria and is easily able to split his gay relationship with Daniel who enables him to survive and acquire legal residency papers to his loyalties to his fiancee. The picture heats up, as the thugs Kyril hangs out with appear to be either drug dealers or terrorists. Kyril utilizes Daniel as one of his resources. Daniel assists in bringing Kyril's fiancee to Spain and then accompanies him back for his marriage in Bulgaria. While the obvious sensational elements of nudity are there, the film surpasses that by being an interesting character study on the what necessity forces individuals to do and how love and loyalty must sometimes be compromised for the sake of survival. It is an interesting film, but certainly not for the straightlaced! Enjoy!Bulgarian Lovers - Unrated Edition
Amusing enough but severely flawed
Based on a popular, but not very good, Spanish novel, this film tells the story of a Spanish middle-aged man's relationship with a hunky Bulgarian who's after his money and has a blonde girlfriend/wife. Unfortunately, the film is not as smart or witty as its makers seem to think it is. The filmmakers didn't seem to have a clear idea of what they wanted to do: a dark comedy, a sex romp, a witty commentary on Spanish gay male culture, a humorous gay melodrama a la Almodovar. Instead, you get a little bit of everything and most of it is not done particularly well.
Still, the two leads are attractive in their own ways, the plot, while preposterous and unnecessarily convoluted, is amusing, and there's more male frontal nudity than Americans are used to (although the film is far from being as graphic as the cover suggests and the few sex scenes are quite tame). And the stereotypes of the queeny middle-aged men and the hunky foreigners, while somewhat crude and even potentially offensive, are actually quite refreshing when compared to the boringly PC American gay movies.Bulgarian Lovers - Unrated Edition
"I'd give my life for you!"
Smart, witty and endlessly sly, Eloy de la Iglesia's Bulgarian Lovers is lots of extraordinary and unexpected fun. With its themes of love, money, and what we do for lust, the film takes the viewer on an almost surreal journey through the life of the loveable Daniel (Fernando Guillén Cuervo), a wealthy, spoilt, middle-aged, but attractive businessman who falls for Kyril (Dritan Biba), a hunky, muscular, sexy Bulgarian. Daniel is a well-adjusted gay guy who frequents the Madrid party scene surrounding himself with a bunch of fluttery gay men who constantly camp it up, swoon over the Bulgarian hunks, and chatter incessantly about their latest boyfriends.
Kyril is looking for a wealthy sugar daddy to look after him, someone who can shower him with money and presents while also "fixing his papers" so that he can stay in the country. He sets his sights on Daniel and after having a night of all-consuming passion, where they share lots of hot, sweaty, and brutal sex, Daniel becomes hooked regardless of the fact that Kyril confesses that he has a fiancé. None of Kyril's apparent shortcomings seem to bother Daniel, who - while intermittently addressing the camera with a cunning, self-knowing little smirk - readily invites the Bulgarian into his life.
Kyril is obviously hiding something. And Daniel progressively begins to get suspicious when Kyril keeps asking for more money. Soon Daniel is forced to have surreptitious dealings with Eastern European mobsters and is asked to store a suspicious-looking black bag in his apartment (he's far too afraid to examine its contents in case he ruins his romantic sojourn). Daniel's emotionally masochistic tendencies become even more outlandish when he allows Kyril's beautiful fiancée, Kalina (Anita Sinkovic), to stay, and even accompanies them to Sofia for their wedding while also paying for their trip.
Daniel's obsession with Kyril lands him in all sorts of bother. Throughout the film he ruminates on the price that one must pay for love (and lust); he's part hard-core masochist and impossible romantic, who is absolutely besotted with a man who, simply put, is a selfish opportunist who is merely out to make a quick buck by hook or crook, which includes robbery and smuggling. But the twist is that Daniel is far from the exploited, subjugated waif; he willingly chases after other boys, recklessly aids and abets his live-in stud, and even admits - to his friends and the viewers - that he does it because he can afford it, and faced with man like Kyril, who wouldn't want to do it?
The performances are excellent and totally believable. The romantic and sexual encounters between Daniel and Kyril - which include full frontal nudity - are far more realistic and credible than anything seen in American film, gay or straight. The movie cleverly and without being overly preachy, examines the often-distraught interplay of sex, power and money with a breezy, almost comical attitude. There's also a fine sense of social detail, which cleverly examines the sometimes-uneasy communal relationship that has arisen between the older generation of Spanish and the newer European immigrants. But the film is mostly worth watching for Dritan Biba whom, as Kyril, absolutely smolders on screen - his sexual charisma and magnetism is undeniable and most viewers will probably completely understand why Daniel becomes incessantly besotted with him. Mike Leonard March 05.
Bulgarian Lovers - Unrated Edition
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