Zift
Tags: neo noir

Plot synopsis:
Zift's plot unfolds non-linearly: although the main story after Moth's release from prison is told chronologically, the events leading to his imprisonment are revealed by means of numerous relatively long and not necessarily chronological flashbacks. The story is presented chronologically here.
Moth is an ordinary guy from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. At school, he falls in love with the beautiful Ada (Tanya Ilieva), later nicknamed "Mantis". Out of a desire for money, he agrees to work for a shady neighbour known as Slug (Vladimir Penev). The two plot the theft of a black diamond from the white émigré jeweller Vlad the Bijou's house. The robbery ends in failure as Moth is wounded by The Bijou and captured by the police; Slug manages to escape and is never charged. There is no trace of the diamond, and as Vlad is killed by Slug during the robbery, the police never get to know of its existence.
In the Sofia prison, Moth, besides working out to patriotic Soviet music, also befriends his older roommate Van Wurst the Eye (Mihail Mutafov), so nicknamed because he has been wearing an ocular prosthesis after losing one of his eyes during a robbery in Barcelona. Besides being an avid boxer and arm wrestler, Van Wurst also has his philosophical views on life, such as a theory about the destructive power of women, which he shares with Moth. Shortly before being released, Van Wurst hangs himself, claiming "there is no hope outside". While in prison, Moth is informed by Ada that his son Leonid was born and died of lockjaw while still very young.
As Moth is released from prison afterwards, he picks up his civil clothes and his year-old ball of chewing bitumen from the cloakroom and does not miss the chance to swear at an obnoxious guard, who headbutts him to unconsciousness. Outside, Moth is picked by a warrant officer and a younger soldier who drive him in a Chaika to the Baths. In the damp basement of the Baths, he is interrogated and tortured by Slug, now a locally influential member of the communist nomenklatura, who believes Moth knows the location of the black diamond. Moth denies and even doubts the diamond ever existed; he later manages to escape, but not before he consumes iridium-poisoned wine offered to him by Slug.
Wandering drunk and intoxicated around Sofia and seeking his old girlfriend Ada, Moth gets to witness the new socialist reality he had only heard about on the prison radio: the look of the city has changed with The Largo and the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum, but the nature of the people has remained essentially the same. The protagonist meets a variety of bizarre characters, such as drug-doing medics, weird patients and local drunks. He ends up in the Saint Nicholas Church, where he meets the priest who had baptized him (Đoko Rosić); the priest points him to Ada's current whereabouts as a performer in a nightclub under the stage name Gilda (a reference to Gilda, as Ada also performs a Bulgarian-language version of Put the Blame on Mame).
Moth finds Ada, who is now living with Slug, and has sex with her. He later reveals to Ada that he is aware of the diamond's location: in Vlad the Bijou's coffin. The two go to the graveyard, where Moth first insists to visit the grave of his son. However, he realizes that it is another Leonid's grave (his mother had been buried in the same grave very recently) and that he never actually had a son. At the same time he notices Slug standing behind him with Ada, who had apparently betrayed him. The three head to The Bijou's grave; while digging, Moth kills Slug with his pickaxe, but is fatally wounded and stunned by Ada a moment later.
Moth wakes up in the gravediggers' shed. Realizing his impending death, he asks for his bitumen in order not to die with a foul breath. Tearing the bitumen apart, Moth reveals the black diamond had been stashed within it for all those years. He swallows the diamond and dies.

Review: It didn't have an Oscar nomination(for the best foreign language award) this year, still Zift is a crowning and epoch making epic movie for Bulgaria and Eastern/North-Eastern Europe.
Hence, in the years ahead this movie will be mentioned often for its contemporary style, modern cinema language and creative editing.Centering on a criminal, nicknamed as "Moth", the story is taken from a novel and is adapted to screenplay from its own novelist.
Director Javor Gardev features Moth being a self-respecting and chivalrous Bulgarian, reflecting the character of his country under Communism.
Despite all of his relatives and friends leaving him alone, and his wife wounding his pride; he has never held his head down.Not only the past of his country, the writer also reflects the present and the future of Bulgaria within the same literary perspective in a dark utopia, or a neo-noir(film-noir).
On the level of artistic value, Zift has more value than its comparisons.Even though it's resembling several industrial box-office hits, the screenplay is truly original; considering that a novel writer has prepared the whole script from his own adaptation, you will see the total commitment of creating this epic by the production crew.
I remember when I first heard about "Zift" some months before it was released and I couldn't believe what I had just heard and then I watched the trailer and I couldn't believe what I saw and when I finally saw the film back in early October I remember leaving the theatre with a big grin on my face, thinking how I just saw something I thought would never happen.
Wonderful so very wonderful, I don't know if it can revive Bulgarian cinema, I think it's too far gone already, but I'll be definitely following Javor Gardev's career from this point on.
Compared to that meatwagon of stale films that get made here from time to time, Zift is revolutionary in it's visual style, narrative and plot.Opening with a reference to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, "Zift" is the story of a man nicknamed Moth, no real name is ever mentioned.
and it's going to be one hell of a long day for Moth and that's all I'm going to say about the story.From the start "Zift" tells you how this is going to play out, I don't mean that it's predictable or anything, what I'm talking about is style.
The dialogue, the characters, the film has a quirky pitch black sense of humor, like the zift Moth likes chewing, it's not something that can appeal to everyone, and it might seem vulgar or profane or whatever, but it has it's lyrical value, it just adds up.
The film feels both distinctly western and distinctly Bulgarian, or Balkan to be more general, because it uses a storyline similar to that of the American Pulp novels (Zift itself is an adaptation of a pulp novel), film noirs and then the character stereotypes (femme fatales, anti hero protagonist) and all these elements get mixed together with Bulgarian culture and stereotypes, resulting in what I dare say, a quite original and refreshing piece of cinematic wonder.Visually speaking "Zift" is all high contrast black and white goodness, a tasty treat for anyone who values the classic two color scheme.
Essential for it's narrative structure is a series of flashbacks explaining, character relationships and background stories and depending on the flashback (a 1930s something maybe, 1940s, or modern time in the film's time frame 1960s) we get a scene shot on different film.
So for example the 1960s part of the film is shot on 35mm while the earliest on 8mm, thus giving "Zift" a substantially different look for each time segment.
I have to mention something about the acting and while I liked Zahary Bahalov as Moth, he played him with a lot of bravado, my hat goes down to the supporting cast, including the great Djoko Rosic as a priest who consoles Moth, and a whole lot of other actors who gave the film a strong energy boost.And while it does have its own share of flaws(the ending felt rushed) and it might seems as if it's going nowhere, and some scenes might seem pointless to the overall plot, Zift is, nevertheless, high quality entertainment, an example in genre film-making, stylish and sharp-edged.
Black and white noir, dark comedy with a brilliant camera work and lighting.
In a time where brutality in movies only count when you see tons of blood, sex only count when it looks like porn and the story only count when there are 20 story switches with three parallel stories in it, the Bulgarian cinema brought us a movie which have not any of this in it and although it is ten times better.I am finished five minutes ago watching this movie.
Fate and his past intervene."Zift" bows to film-noir classics like "Gilda" and "DOA", even lifting plot elements, but this little gem uses their themes only as point of departure, as it does references to "Candide": If all is best in the best possible worlds, all is worst in the worst.And Soviet-era Bulgaria director Gardev depicts is just that - filthy, casually brutal and airlessly detached.
The Best Bulgarian film ever in terms of professionalism.
All the films I have seen until this point were very disappointing and could only be compared between themselves because films outside Bulgaria had always stood above in terms of cinematography, acting,Direction, Budget etc.
The acting is more like theatrical than cinematic and the picture quality has more white spots on it than mount Everest, not to even mention the Sound.
I was blown away, for the first time in my life I was so excited about seeing a Bulgarian film.
Yes It did took me a while since I live in the UK but I did saw it yesterday.After seeing it I felt depressed and had mixed feelings about it.I am going to analyse the film in positives and negatives.
- Very Good acting, especially from the Zahary Baharov and Djoko Rosic - First Bulgarian film to use cgi, I know this could be a negative but in this case it is used very well.
- Many unnecessary scenes involving downgrade humanity and dialogue which focus on 'toilet humour' - Too much nudity, this is something which all Bulgarian films suffer from but this one takes it on another level.(This may not be a negative to all but I generally do not like too much nudity, I believe there is different films for that purpose.)Overall I believe the positives overcome the negatives and In conclusion I must say I liked Zift even though by no means its a masterpiece.
Really liked the black and white photography and had high hopes after a nice opening.
I think Gardev has definitely borrowed from other films and directors.
I found the little stories and anecdotes from minor characters to be intrusive and tiresome after a while and I don't know if the voice-over was that effective.Thought the acting was fine and there were some amusing moments but overall I can't work out if this was supposed to be a thriller or black comedy, heist flick, noir potboiler or a bit of all of these..
This movie has given back to me the hope that Bulgarian cinema is going upward!
And just because a movie is tragic, strange, original and twisted doesn't mean it's good.
This is the top of the Bulgarian film industry,I think.Not forever,but for the past 25-30 years.This is the Bulgarian movie,that has the biggest chance of winning ANY award worldwide.It's about the drama,the innovative story told by it,and the acting.The old school Bulgarian actors like Djoko Rosich for example,along with the younger actors,made a great masterpiece of the already brilliant script.
Some people say "it is the worst movie ever" and give it 1 star, some say it is "the best Bulgarian movie" and give it 8-10 stars.
(I hate that "this movie is horrible" people say "too much profanity"...
This movie is FAR LESS profane than ANY meeting in Bulgaria, where men are present...)-The acting...
Besides, all characters speak in PERFECT Bulgarian, which makes them totally frigid and unrealistic (imagine a movie about a ghetto, where all black guys talk like Barrack Obama).
The movie is nicely shot, from my point of view- this is the big +.
Yes, the dialogue, story, acting weren't insanely bad, they weren't Epic/Disaster movie bad, they just weren't any good.
I feel like watching Zift again....
I saw the trailer first and thought it's great but it surely wasn't the reason took me to the cinema.I know Yavor Gardev is absolutely brilliant theater director and just couldn't wait to see his film debut.
I like the movie is black and white, it's different from the usual American commercial rubbish.
The film is not perfect but it's a sign someone is trying to create something really good and competitive.I go to the cinema once in a blue moon but this time I went to see Zift for a special reason- to support the Bulgarian cinematography.
And I'd like to do it again....sure I will and expecting a new film from Yavor Gardev /I'm really proud with his success in Russia/.Regards :).
" Zift" is not a film just a horrible cliché .
As a SWF I was literally taken into watching this movie by a friend and I truly regret every minute of it.
Since I hate plagiarism, I'll post it:HOW TO STEAL ZIFTFirst: We steal the plot from the movie "Crank" with Jason Statham (2006)!Second: We steal style from the soundtrack of Kill BillThird: We steal a dozen of a military jokes !Fourth: We steal Felini's characters!Fifth: We steal Kusturitsa's background!Sixth: We steal the Phillip Marlowe's monologues, created decades earlier from the great writer Raymond Chandler!Seventh: We steal episodes from about at least 10-12 worldwide known movies, I don't have spare time enough to count the details!.....
It is just that every minute of this movie you're guessing what exactly movie you were watching the same thing in and you try to guess the title :((( We have good level of actor's play, that's only positive thing, WITH THE EXCEPTION of Tanya Ilieva, who pushes lines with the power of expression of the green euglene in the non-fertile age.
He shows as a mockery with mustache, obviously made out of plastic tape.What we have at the end of the long run: that the "Modern Bulgarian Cinema" is not Modern, is not Bulgarian and is not cinema at all :((( Not to mention that chewing asphalt in the years when chewing gum Ideal was becoming cult, is true perversion!I don't like this movie!.
I haven't counted how many times the word 'sh*t' is used but its kinda the most used word in the movie.Characters 1/10 Erm...
OST 3/10 There was only 1 good thing in Zift - The opening song called Smuglyanka Moldavanka performed by the Red Army Choir.Enjoyment 0/10 No commentI have just 1 wish: Please, pretty please, stop making use of the communist regime as an excuse for making crap movies.
Watching this innovative black and white noir thriller, I kept thinking that Frank Miller must have written it, so perfectly does it fit the sensibility of his Sin City comic book series.
My wife said that the film was rich in allusions to Bulgarian life and culture which went right past me.
She is definitely not a genre fan but she really liked this movie.
Certainly the best Bulgarian movie I've seen since the magically-realistic anti-communist fable The Well..
I actually prefer not making movies than watching something like this.
Unrelated boring scenes - trying to add a color in the black and white movie.
The overshooting with bed scenes is completely embarrassing, much full nudity to compensate the lack of scenario and good acting, but even if someone feel the need to make a movie full with unnecessary naked scenes why not try to make them a little more erotic.
People who liked this movie are just pseudo-patriots to me.
I am a real patriot and I want to see a good movie once in 50 years than this crap, and it is a real crap - the whole predictable story is about crap.
What you see in it is a true insult for any Bulgarian people, and those, who comment positive, are just more brainwashed people who do not care about their own heritage.The plot of this "movie" is weak, performance of the actors is at best mediocre, camera work is bad.
It is true, that it gets close to western civilisation criteria for a good movie, cause of all the violence, brutality, and barbarism, but this is not who we Bulgarians are.I believe i read in another post that Bulgarian cinematography is dead since 20 years, and well, after watching this pile of crap, i have to agree..
Black and white picture and trash talking do NOT make an Neo-Noir movie.
Black and white picture and trash talking do NOT make an Neo-Noir movie We can guess the director's ideas or the story morals.
The story is full of flows  from the neat looking fascist time prison with snow white sweat shirts on all of the prisoners, trough kidnapping of the main character with an Russian limousine (impossible situation) garnished with bath full of women (let it be flesh).
A young girl that does not age with 20 years, a jeweler that likes to keep a black diamond well you know where, while he exercise.
All I got is foul language, trash picture and one more convincing example that the new Bulgarian Cinema is in the same "zift" as the movie title.
The Black and White movie later transferred to the big screen by Vladislav Todorov was superbly directed by director Javor Gardev.
The gut wrenching story develops in an isolated dank, dark, brutal, Bulgarian Prison where our hero " Zift " (Zahary Baharov) otherwise known as 'The Moth' has just been granted early Parole.
The movie depicts his early years, which includes his school, girlfriend, Ada (Tanya Ilieva) and a short-lived life of crime.
The stark, bloody, black and white images, along with the director's ability to scatter mayhem and death through the dark rainy streets of Bulgaria offers a realistic movie which is direct, honest and as for this reviewer, a magnificent Classic of the first magnitude.
But visually this is a (black/white) treat.It's just a shame, that the story doesn't get that much attention.
So while not a bad movie at all, there is still quite a few things to improve with this one..
There were a lot of funny stories throughout the film.The film moves from there to a prison where Moth (Zahary Baharov) is about to be released after serving time for a crime he did not commit.
He enters a world he doesn't know as the Communists are now in power.The film is brilliant in a sharp black and white, which is perfect as it is neo-noir.
The shower scene in the prison was particularly funny.It was confusing when he is released from prison and ends up in another one immediately, but in flashbacks we see Moth with his wife Ada (Tanya Ilieva) and partner-in-crime Slug (Vladimir Penev), who is now an official in the new prison, and is looking for a diamond they stole years earlier.He escapes, but not before he is poisoned.
one of the great Bulgarian films.
How to make a (good) bad movie which is still trash.
First of all, I really truly madly deeply wanted to like this movie.
It starts with showing feces, stupidity, foul language, genitals and unusual sex scenes like some B-movie from the 80's.
The script is inevitably bad, even for a post soc Bulgarian movie, with plot holes larger than black hole in the Universe and wooden and totally meaningless lines filled with pretentious philosophical stereotypes.
All in all, I must say that using a foul language coupled with totally unbelievable, grotesque and inane characters does NOT a great movie made.
Besides, the actor's play was bad to mediocre, with the only two noticeable exceptions - the main character Moth and Djoko Rossich, who is well known cinema professional.
This is something most new Bulgarian movies suffer with - no one of the good theatrical actors have any experience with cinema, and I am constantly under impression I am watching TV version of the theatrical play.
I know that the movie has to have some double or hidden meaning, but the people in the audience doesn't seem to have caught it.
BTW, from about 50 people in the theater I was one of the dozen ones to watch the movie till the end.
This is soctrash movie with no value so I don't recommend anyone watching it..
It was a damn month where everybody in Bulgaria were saying "hey, did you watch Zift?!
That's the best thing in this movie.
You know, all the Bulgarian movies have it.So better go and watch some stupid low-budget Hollywood movie instead of this crap.
And yes, I can see that clearly.And hell yes, I paid $2 for that crap but I wouldn't even give 2 stotinki (around 1 cent) to watch this wannabe-a-good-Bulgarian-movie.
Although some Bulgarian pseudo-patriots (this means almost all Bulgarians) might like it.In the end, the good thing.
Slightly twisted, black-and-white Bulgarian film..
The film starts with Lev (Moth) in prison for murder.
Lel is released from prison but immediately falls into the hands of some uniformed men who want to know the location of a diamond that Moth supposedly stole.The name "Zift" apparently comes from an Arabic word meaning asphalt that was once a popular chewing-gum like substance in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
Zift is a love story mixed with murder and betrayal, in all I have to say that Zift is a strong entry into the noir genre.Highly recommended for the fans of black comedy and drama.