Mockumentary creates super-annoying character as it transforms into something much more hard-faced
It’s to debut director Yavor Petkov’s credit that, with his coke-hoovering Balkans wideboy Danny, he has created an extremely annoying cinematic character to rival Steven Stifler of
American Pie, Jim Carrey’s Cable Guy and Jar Jar Binks. Petkov however, has done it on purpose – and his mockumentary about a hipster film crew following around this smalltown councillor-cum-petty mafioso, played by Dimo Alexiev, blossoms into a deeply uncomfortable viewing experience.
The set-up is this: Danny takes Susan (Kate Nichols) and her
British crew under his wing to show them around his Bulgarian town. Ostensibly taking part in a documentary on money-laundering, this mean-faced braggart has no shame and operates an access-all-areas policy: they film him berating the local “peasants”, scope out the chocolate factory he’s planning, and watch him bully a bank official. If they didn’t already know they’d snagged a live one, Danny insists they film him receiving a blowjob back at his nightclub. “This is not your project any more,” he raves. “The script is here – in my head!”