Kozijat Rog, 1972 - Kozijat Rog, 1994
The Goat Horn (Kozijat Rog) Козият рог
Time: In the 17th Century
The Setting: Bulgaria under the rule of the Turkish Ottoman Empire
The plot: A Bulgarian goatherd's wife is brutally raped and murdered by a band of Turks in full view of her little daughter, Maria. The goatherd takes the young girl high into the mountains for protection. There he raises her as a boy, training her to fight with a dagger, staff and blunderbuss. When Maria reaches adulthood the two begin to take revenge against the Turks. But one day Maria meets a young man who completely changes everything in her life.
The Blunderbuss
The Woman in the Harem
Kozijat Rog, 1972 b&w, directed by Metodi Andonov was made as an "experimental" film in the Communist era. It today remains the most popular Bulgarian film ever made. When first released, more than one third of the country's population saw the film.
Kozijat Rog, 1994 color, directed by Nikolai Volev, is an art film. It is not really a remake of the first film but a complete re-telling of this tragic tale.
I liked both films for different reasons. I think Kozijat Rog, 1972 is by far the most subtle and deepest interpretation of the original short story written by Nikolai Haitov, who wrote the screenplay for the b&w original. The acting of Katya Paskaleva is outstanding to where I would call it a "textbook example" of great screen acting. There is very little dialog in the film. The story is told through action and visual imagery. Katya Paskaleva plays Maria's mother in the opening scenes and Maria as an adult in the rest of the film.
Elena Petrova gives a very different interpretation of Maria in Kozijat Rog 1994. It is also well worth seeing. She too portrays Maria's mother in the opening scene.
Kozijat Rog, 1994 does not have the subtlety and nuances of the original, but there are some interesting artistic and interpretive ideas that make the film worth a visit. Some people who saw this film first liked it better than the original. I saw the original first and it remains my favorite.
You must forgive the sound dubbing in Kozijat Rog 1972. Without access to the more modern technologies used by filmmakers of the Western World, films of the Communist era Eastern Europe generally had poor sound dubbing. Fortunately there is very little dialogue and so it is not a major problem. The "wild sound", the sounds of nature are used well in this film. Both films have beautiful, though different music soundtracks.
Because of the dramatic and tragic nature of these films and the artistic interpretations of the story, I would not recommend them to anyone who does not have a taste for art films. These are not the standard action-adventure movies although the plot may sound suitable for that genre.
The House
The Bear Costume
The Gift
The Goat Horn
Romani Musicians
Tormenting the Captives
The Waterfall
The Woman in the Harem
Maria's First Dress
The Church
The Market
Unwelcome Guests
The Hut
The Cavern Hideout
Romani Musicians
The Bear Costume
The Gift
The Goat Horn
Ambush
The Waterfall
Maria's First Dress
The Chase
Time: In the 17th Century
The Setting: Bulgaria under the rule of the Turkish Ottoman Empire
The plot: A Bulgarian goatherd's wife is brutally raped and murdered by a band of Turks in full view of her little daughter, Maria. The goatherd takes the young girl high into the mountains for protection. There he raises her as a boy, training her to fight with a dagger, staff and blunderbuss. When Maria reaches adulthood the two begin to take revenge against the Turks. But one day Maria meets a young man who completely changes everything in her life.
The Blunderbuss
The Woman in the Harem
Kozijat Rog, 1972 b&w, directed by Metodi Andonov was made as an "experimental" film in the Communist era. It today remains the most popular Bulgarian film ever made. When first released, more than one third of the country's population saw the film.
Kozijat Rog, 1994 color, directed by Nikolai Volev, is an art film. It is not really a remake of the first film but a complete re-telling of this tragic tale.
I liked both films for different reasons. I think Kozijat Rog, 1972 is by far the most subtle and deepest interpretation of the original short story written by Nikolai Haitov, who wrote the screenplay for the b&w original. The acting of Katya Paskaleva is outstanding to where I would call it a "textbook example" of great screen acting. There is very little dialog in the film. The story is told through action and visual imagery. Katya Paskaleva plays Maria's mother in the opening scenes and Maria as an adult in the rest of the film.
Elena Petrova gives a very different interpretation of Maria in Kozijat Rog 1994. It is also well worth seeing. She too portrays Maria's mother in the opening scene.
Kozijat Rog, 1994 does not have the subtlety and nuances of the original, but there are some interesting artistic and interpretive ideas that make the film worth a visit. Some people who saw this film first liked it better than the original. I saw the original first and it remains my favorite.
You must forgive the sound dubbing in Kozijat Rog 1972. Without access to the more modern technologies used by filmmakers of the Western World, films of the Communist era Eastern Europe generally had poor sound dubbing. Fortunately there is very little dialogue and so it is not a major problem. The "wild sound", the sounds of nature are used well in this film. Both films have beautiful, though different music soundtracks.
Because of the dramatic and tragic nature of these films and the artistic interpretations of the story, I would not recommend them to anyone who does not have a taste for art films. These are not the standard action-adventure movies although the plot may sound suitable for that genre.
The House
The Bear Costume
The Gift
The Goat Horn
Romani Musicians
Tormenting the Captives
The Waterfall
The Woman in the Harem
Maria's First Dress
The Church
The Market
Unwelcome Guests
The Hut
The Cavern Hideout
Romani Musicians
The Bear Costume
The Gift
The Goat Horn
Ambush
The Waterfall
Maria's First Dress
The Chase