Film Movement releasing the spectacular 2016 Bulgarian drama with awesome dark comedy "Glory" across a broad spectrum of VOD providers (including iTunes and major cable platforms) on July 18 is another example of Movement allowing the large percentage of the American movie-watching public to see what they are missing. One thing that makes "Glory" particularly awesome is that this tale of the national government humiliating and otherwise punishing a sweet stupid soul who does the right thing is very relatable in the United States.
Movement pairing "Glory" with the (Unreal TV reviewed) 2017 Japanese character study "After the Storm" facilitates a great home-based mini-foreign film festival that will impress your friends.
The well-deserved festival love for "Glory" extends well beyond the Best Narrative Feature Film honor at the Hamptons International Film Festival and the Best Film award at the Les Arcs European Film Festival. Several other festivals are the source of similar accolades.
The following YouTube clip of a festival promo. for "Glory" both reinforces why you should see it and validates the widely held belief that "I'm from the government; I'm here to help you" is one of the three largest lies in existence.
The press materials for "Glory" share that this tale of a railway lineman Tzanko Petrov paying the price for telling the police about a large amount of money that he finds on the tracks while on the job is based on a real-life story in which a comparably honest lineman comes to regret his good deed.
The central conflict of "Glory" revolves around Transportation Ministry PR executive Julia Staykova feeling intense pressure at work regarding a scandal related to investigative reporter Kiril Kolev alleging fraud at the ministry; this is coinciding with Staykova struggling to find enough time away from work to undergoing fertility procedures. A scene in which she conceals herself behind a flag at her office to receive an injection highly symbolizes this.
Staykova concluding that the story of Petrov finding and returning the money can offset the aforementioned bad PR prompts inviting this "innocent" into the world of national politics. The indignities begin with Staykova forgetting to have someone meet the working man of the hour at the station and continue with Petrov and male members of the staff of Staykova being required to drop trou moments before the ceremony honoring Petrov.
The incident around which much of "Glory" revolves comes during the ceremony itself. A frantic Staykova demands that an overwhelmed Petrov give her his watch because the transportation minister is going to award him a new one at the podium. The first problem is that Staykova loses the first watch (which is a family heirloom); the second difficulty is that the new watch runs slow.
The frustration that Petrov experiences regarding trying to recover his watch leads to his meeting with Kolev; that conversation leads to Kolev breaking the story of another scandal at the ministry.
The breaking of the second scandal shows Petrov (who still lacks a properly functioning watch) the price of even inadvertently fighting city hall; he becomes besieged by the powers-that-be, and his none-too-pleased co-workers literally take him for a ride. Anyone who is familiar with the national politics of any nation can see their own leaders and the "little people" in these goings-on.
The wonderful Kafka-light vibe of the film continues to the very end of "Glory;" the cynicism continues with proving the old saying that no good deed goes unpunished.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Glory" is strongly encouraged to email me; you also can connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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