Seite 562 [562]
OCR
560 Evgenia Iroeva decades after 1945 were avoided because of the associations, which was undesirable for the Communist government. Before 1980, the Bulgarian historical films about the Middle Ages were dedicated to the rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom between the late twelfth century and the late fourteenth century (Kaloyan [‘Kaloyan’], Shishman [‘Shishman’], Svatbite na Yoan Asen |“The Weddings of Yoan Asen’], Knyazat [The Prince], Ivaylo [‘Ivaylo’]). These films had features characteristic of the tragedy genre as their characters were depicted in crisis situations (Milev 1982: 42-60). The first film, Kaloyan (1963, director Dako Dakovski), presented the international recognition of the restored Bulgarian state, its expansion and the victory of the Bulgarians ruled by Tsar Kaloyan over the knights of the Latin Emperor Baldwin in 1205. The second film, Ivaylo (1964, Nikola Valchev), was dedicated to the leader of the peasant uprising, who defeated the Tatars, opposed the boyars and ascended the Bulgarian throne in 1278. In the film, the image of the tsar is romanticized and interpreted in terms of sacrifice (Doncheva 2012). Next came a movie about the last medieval Bulgarian ruler, Ivan Shishman (Shishman, 1969, director Yuri Arnaudov), characterized by film critics as a theatrical piece of filmmaking based on a play bearing the same name (Milev 1982: 63-64). The Prince (director Petar Vasilev) was filmed in the same year (1969) and was about Svetoslav Terter, who put an end to Bulgaria’s dependence on the Tatars in the early fourteenth century. The last medieval-themed movie from this period, The Weddings of Yoan Asen (1975, Vili Tsankov) was dedicated to the most successful ruler of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The film showed common elements with previous historical movies: a tragic image of the hero sacrificing his personal happiness for the interests of the state (Milev 1982: 68-69). The screen images of the Second Bulgarian Kingdoms rulers were of loners who were in conflict with relatives, with boyars, with diplomats, with clerics (Milev 1982: 102). The affirmation of Bulgarianness in the historical films was realized through the opposition to foreign people (Byzantines, knights, Cumans, Tatars) (Doncheva 2012). The boyars were often portrayed as traitors, allying with foreign forces, while the positive characters came from the common people (Milev 1982: 104). The historical films from the period aimed to present the common people as the “engine of history” (Bratoeva-Darakchieva 2013: 221). ‘The screenings of these historical films attracted millions of viewers. The viewers of the film Kaloyan were 3,392,100; of Ivaylo, 2,723,857; of The Prince, 1,226,207; and of The Weddings of Yoan Asen, 2,414,550 (Yanakiev 2003: 298-301). These counts significantly exceeded the usual number of visitors to a movie and reveal the significant impact of historical moviemaking on the formation of ideas about the Middle Ages among Bulgarians during the socialist period. Public spaces such as squares and parks have been a common place for the erection of monuments and sculptures of figures important to the history of the national community. The installation of these monuments has an ideological function, which is directly dependent on the respective policies for heroiza
