I don't believe I have never seen any Bulgarian movie, not even 20 years ago, during communism in Romania, when the only alternative to the 2 hours tv programme was to illegally tune your tv set on Bulgarian television. Consequently I have no reference point for Zift.

Bulgarian director Javor Gardev 's Zift is a successful neo-noir achievement, a cucumber soup served cold, with elements of murder and heist movie, with a tad of humor, subtle as a brick and some remnants of living in the the communist era, in the sweet Socialist realism style.

"The story of the man who chewed asphalt", Moth, is filmed in a pale black and white, with not a very original topic, despite the fact that it is the screen adaptation of a Bulgarian novel. It is generally faithful to major successful movie motifs, but it gets points in the visual areas, camera and editing, with some excellent shots, that would've deserved a lower-key black and a pace somewhat more alert.

Another thumbs up is the absurdity and black humor that come after Gardev allows himself to to put aside his questionable soldier-like humor from the scenes in prison, and everything enters a bizarre rush: the chase, the hospital, the church, the pub, pause for sex, then off to the cemetery.

If you can imagine a half-blood between Oz, Snatch, Eastern Promises and Crank, spoken in Bulgarian, neo-noir Soviet-style pop art, with quite bad actors but with good image, watch Zift. It's quite entertaining.

Originally published in Romanian by yours truly:
http://zeemovies.ro/2009/09/zift-2008/