A story about border patrol guards in a remote outpost in Bulgarian hinterlands whose main task is to catch runaways who have triggered an alarm system mechanism set up to prevent its own citizens, Bulgarians, from crossing the border to escape the Communist regime during the Cold War. Failure of the guards to capture those who breached the wired fence meant that they would be the ones punished by their tyrannical captain, and accomplishes it by denying the border guard draftees their vacation leaves and/or contact to loved ones, which takes a bit of a toll on their morale with some of the despondent ones getting more and more desperate in finding ways to entertain themselves or end their service altogether.
Well-written story with some traces of humor given such a bleak subject matter, the progression is pretty much straightforward, not much is told regarding the backstory of the main characters but the narrative is meaty enough for the viewer to understand the character's motivations for doing whatever they did.
Krasavetza, a newbie border guard, the name when translated through Google Translator, it comes out as "gorgeous" which comes off as a rather a condescending feminine nickname given by the senior border guard Popa whom he gets to be partnered with. I don't understand Bulgarian language, so that might be a thin explanation. Don't people in such organizations baptize neophytes like that anyways? But still, take that with a grain of salt, please. It is the partnership of the two male leads that's the focus of the narrative. A riveting performance from a ruggedly handsome Popyourdanov who plays Popa in the film that perfectly complements the just as intense and clean-cut Volev as Krasavetza.
A gem of a film based on real life events concerning issues that still remains as relevant as ever.
My rating: B-plus.
