A CHANGE IN LIVES OF PROTAGONISTS AS THE AGENT OF PLOT-DEVELOPMENT IN BULGARIAN FILMS

Abstract

A film plot is built like any other artistic narrative and includes the following parts: exposition; rising action; climax; falling action; conclusion. We find a rich and multifaceted range of plots in Bulgarian films. However, there is always a break or a change in routine of every plot. The change usually emanates from outside the routine described in the film. The external entity, which comes close to the protagonists’ routine and intervened in it, creates problems and crisis. This happens when the external changes bring new characters or events into the characters’ previous lives, or, alternately, takes them out of their previous routine into a different reality. For example, in the romantic comedy "It Happened in the Street" by the prominent film director (Yanko Yankov), the protagonist Misho (the legendary actor Apostol Karamitev) is a driver of a truck. He meets a girl called Katerina, falls in love with her, and wants to marry her. She is finally convinced that Misho is the right man for her, and accepts his offer. The establishment of a new young family is enabled by the changes that Misho is assigned to take in his life as part of his work. A change in heroes’ lives is the main motive-force in Bulgarian cinema. A variety of drastic events may happen to the protagonists, and they have to face the consequences. They often have intense, dramatic experiences which serve as a mental, psychological, social, personal, ideological, and physical test. These govern their fate, forcing them to mobilize their forces and fight for a lofty cause. The change in the heroes’ lives allows them to discover their true character and see their lives anew, in a more moral way.