Time: The early 21st century, long after the East/West divide has subdivided. Surviving a car accident that takes the lives of his parents, Bulgarian emigre Alex — coping, fitfully, with amnesia in a German hospital — has become a weirdly Balkanized personality, fragmented, robbed of his memories.
How this man finds his way back, with the help of his backgammon-obsessed grandfather, provides the through-line in the engaging 2008 adaptation of Ilija Trojanow's novel.
It's heavy on the backgammon-as-metaphor notion and not helped by a pushy, cutesy musical score. But nimbly blending flashbacks to Alex's childhood, and his family's experiences slipping over the Italian border to what they presume is a better life, "The World Is Big" offers a pretty full emotional plate, with just enough realism to make the fablelike aspects stick.
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The film is only now receiving an extended theatrical run here in Chicago. Its natural entry point comes in the person of Miki Manojlovic as the grandfather. A familiar face and a terrific actor, Manojlovic is known for his work with Emir Kusturica and Goran Paskaljevic.
Seeing him half a moviegoing lifetime ago in Kusturica's "When Father Was Away on Business" (1985), I remember being struck by how he managed to hold the center of every scene without any overt dramatics. At times in "The World Is Big," Manojlovic veers close to adorability: The role is that of a disarming, life-loving provocateur whose own son-in-law is forced to spy on him by the Bulgarian authorities. In the present-day scenes, the grandfather and grandson (Carlo Ljubek) pedal on a tandem bike across several countries, as the older man attempts to reacquaint Alex with his half-remembered self. Through it all, the game of backgammon serves as the grandfather's refuge and lifeline, and Alex's.
Directed by Stephan Komandarev, the film's Italy-set refugee camp scenes are given a jolt of urgency by beefy, sullen Hristo Mutafchiev and sadly beautiful Ana Papadopulu as Alex's parents. Alex's chronicle works, as does the picture — largely because it belongs to other, juicier characters.
No MPAA rating; in Bulgarian, German, Italian, Slovenian, English and Hungarian
Running time: 1:45
Opening: Friday at Facets Cinematheque
