The Good Postman

Tampere Film Festival
Kotimainen kilpailu 5
T15 | 9.3. THU/TO 18:00 | PLEVNA 2 |
Language/kieli: Eng/Fin | Duration/kesto: 82 min

THE GOOD POSTMAN
HYVÄ POSTIMIES

Tonislav Hristov | Finland, Bulgaria 2016 | Documentary | 82 min
© 2016 Making Movies / Soul Food.

TFF: A small and dying Bulgarian village facing the Turkish border is preparing for mayoral elections. At nights asylum seekers sneak in causing fear and unrest. The Great Gate, as the village has been called for centuries, has become the loophole of Europe. Two men decide to challenge the indifferent sitting mayor and run for mayor. They have different agendas; one wants to turn the village back to life by welcoming refugees, another wants to close down the border and turn back time to communism. They both soon learn that while good intentions are not enough, even the smallest deeds matter.

Pieni ja kuoleva bulgarialainen kylä Turkin rajalla valmistautuu pormestarinvaaleihin. Öisin turvapaikanhakijat hiipivät kylään, mikä aiheuttaa pelkoa ja levottomuutta. Mahtavasta portista, kuten kylää on kutsuttu jo vuosisatojen ajan, on tullut porsaanreikä Eurooppaan. Kaksi miestä päättää haastaa välinpitämättömän pormestarin ja pyrkiä itse hänen paikalleen. Heidän agendansa eroavat toisistaan: toinen haluaa elävöittää kylän toivottamalla pakolaiset tervetulleeksi, toinen taas haluaa sulkea rajat ja palata takaisin kommunismin aikakauteen. Molemmat miehet oppivat pian, että vaikka hyvät aikeet eivät aina riitä, pienimmilläkin teoilla on merkitystä. TFF

AA: There is a confident sense of atmosphere in The Good Postman which takes place at "The Great Gate" to Europe, a sleepy village on the border between Turkey and Bulgaria, where Turkey extends into the European continent. The European migrant crisis began in 2015. The flood of refugees electrifies the village where a decision is imminent: to try to return to the past or to look ahead into the future.

The assured touch, the intensity in the account of everyday life, and the compelling tempo make this an engaging film. The Good Postman represents a new level of achievement from the director Tonislav Hristov from whom I have seen previously Sinkkuelämän säännöt and Love & Engineering.

While watching The Good Postman I was occasionally thinking about Zaza Urushadze's masterpiece Tangerines (2013) because of the pastoral tranquillity and the sense of a turbulence beneath. The juxtaposition of ordinary life and the vicinity of a great global disaster brings to mind Gianfranco Rosi's Fuocoammare.

The mise-en-scène in the scope format is often fine, as are the dynamics in the composition of light in certain memorable shots. The visual approach is clear and solid. There are ravishing shots of the landscape.

The questions emerging are big: are the refugees a threat or are they the future?

Towards the finale there is more and more alarming news about tragedies related to refugee smuggling. The good postman who has so far duly reported his sightings of refugees to the police now resolves not to do so.