This superior drama and dark comedy starts off slowly, but in a poetic and determined way that sets the mood, explores the landscape, and quickly characterizes our protagonist. Svetla (Svetlana Yancheva) is a headstrong widow living in a small seaside town in Bulgaria. The film’s first scenes show her closing down the school in which she worked, the long trek to her husband’s seaside grave, and a short -and frustrating- discussion with the clerk at the employment office. She goes to sleep, as we’re shown many times after, with a bowie knife beneath her pillow.
The next day while hunting for game fowl, Svetla encounters an English-speaking man from Mali whom we learn further into the film is named Bamba (Michael Flemming). Bamba states he wants to continue to Germany, but the woman doesn’t speak English and the lack of understanding makes both refugee and local quite frustrated. Svetla makes a sort of gunpoint citizen’s arrest and takes the man to the nearby Border Patrol/Military outpost.
Finding no help or instruction there or at the Mayor’s apartment, Svetla sets Bamba up in her shed and eventually her house. The two bond and come to an understanding as the townsfolk snoop and meddle. Eventually, racial tensions flare forcing Svetla to make a choice: Bow to the racist intolerance of her neighbors or defend the basic respect the newcomer deserves.
The most striking element of this Bulgarian tour de force is its cinematography. Shot in stark and striking black and white, every shot seems well considered, thematically constant, and poetic. The use of black and white not only helps us focus on the excellent use of shadow and staging but thematically addresses the racial and immigration issues touched on throughout the film: black and white thought backed up by bias and bigotry drives the conflict between Svetla and her neighbors. We see both slice-of-life and obviously staged comedic or dramatic elements, but they blend seamlessly into each other almost like two people completing each other's sentences.
Svetla and Bamba very quickly come to an understanding, both finding that the other is much more like them than bias or media representations would have them believe. Their stories are parallel, both suffering great loss, unable to practice their trades and in near constant fear of real and present dangers. The dark comedy elements are quite dark and often one forgets they are watching a comedic drama, though it still gets in some genuine belly laughs. Miscommunication and language barriers are used comedically as well and the surreal ending is actually quite happy.
The themes of social and media sensationalization of refugees and immigrants are still topical today and the issues of European racism are rarely touched on in a comedic format. Despite the use of varied racial slurs, racialized violence, and microaggressions by the bushel, Fear is a must-watch drama that belongs in any library collection. Editor’s Choice.
What kind of film series would this drama fit in?
This is a must-show for any Bulgarian or East European film festival and would make an excellent addition to a film series about racism or race relations.
What college majors would benefit from the content covered in this film?
Fear is a must-see for any up-and-coming film students for its fantastic use of both traditional and drone footage.