Osa Archivum Catalog

On a Small Island

Summary: Forty- three political prisoners have been exiled to a small island after an uprising in 1923. They are making ready for their escape. As they overcome mutual suspicion, their personal escape turns into an organized rebellion. The film is a bitter parable about the slow maturing of the idea of freedom - both collective and personal. The characters` deaths are absurd, with no pathos. The different and romantic Student is the first to die. The colorful freedom-loving sailor Costa Rica and the spirited and clever Zheko follow him. The restrained, sensitive Doctor, who has been against the attempt of the four and in favor of a collective escape, dies last. This film broke with the conventions of the Moscow film school to explore the possibilities of a poetic film language, much of which surpassed the discoveries of the later ‘new wave’. The theme was novel primarily in its romantically individualized approach to the characters, who were seen from many viewpoints, including an ironical one. The camera explores the “rawness of reality” leaving the “artificiality of the studio” for the first time. (Liehm & Liehm, "The most important art"). The film marks the beginning of the collaboration between Rangel Valchanov and Vallery Petrov, a prominent Bulgarian literary and screenwriter.

Item Type	Current Location	Call Number	Status	Shelving Location	Public Note
DVD-ROM	OSA Film Library	FL Record 0709	Available	-	-
Digital film	OSA Film Library	FL Record 0709 (HU_OSA_00002431.mp4)	Available		Access Copy, MP4 format