Ladies' Choice (film)

Ladies' Choice (Bulgarian: Дами Канят / Dami Kanyat) is a Bulgarian comedy film released in 1980, directed by Ivan Andonov, starring Stefan Danailov.

Дами Канят
(Ladies' Choice)
the original cinema poster (left)[1]
and the new DVD cover (right)
Directed byIvan Andonov
Written byGeorgi Mishev
StarringStefan Danailov
Georgi Rusev
Nikola Todev
Nevena Kokanova
Tsvetana Maneva
Mariana Dimitrova
Doroteya Toncheva
Yordanka Kuzmanova
Nadya Todorova
Mariya Statulova
Music byGeorgi Genkov
Production
company
Release date
1980
Running time
95 min.
CountryBulgaria
LanguageBulgarian

A charming driving instructor, divorced and poor, flirts with his numerous female students all of the time. No matter of age, occupation or marital status as if all the bored women in this town court this country "Don Juan". Finally, he loses control over the attacks of his suitors...

The film belongs to the group of the so-called Bulgarian Cult Comedies Stream that burst out during the first half of the 1980s but starting from the previous decade. Amidst the notable ones can be listed: Something out of Nothing (1979), The Double (1980), A Nameless Band (1982), Dangerous Charm (1984) and the sequence about The Past-Master (1970–1983)

Naturally, the film gave one of the all time famous quotes, as usual by the well-known Rusev and Todev.

Plot

The driving instructor Yakim Donev (Danailov) just divorced his wife leaving her all his modest assets. For giving the assets he is blamed by his uncle (Todev) every time when Donev visited him. The town in which he lives and works seems to be small and boring, so he initiates dalliances with his female students. There is no matter of age or occupancy, of physical appearance or marital status. All the women who tries to obtain a driving license becomes his suitors. The funny situations file one after the other. From a barely aged 18 girl (Puncheva) to an overage fatty Missus (Todorova), from two sisters-in-law (Kokanova/Statulova) to an unemployed young housewife (Dimitrova),from a research worker (Toncheva) to an artist's wife (Maneva). The acts are sometimes spiced by jealous husbands as the lawyer Baltiev (Rusev). The rope around the neck of the "Don Juan" tightens. Maybe the reason is in him but maybe in the women, all of whom fight for his attention. The chase is over with drama for all of them, with a thin tread of irony.[2]

Production

Production company:

  • Studio of Featured Films (SFF) - a Film Unit SREDETS [3]
  • Director:Ivan Andonov
  • Writer: Georgi Mishev
  • Director of Photography: Plamen Vagenshtayn
  • Music: Georgi Genkov

Filmed: 1980; Premiere: 15.December.1980 [4]
The film was released on DVD in 2000s.

Cast
  • Stefan Danailov as Yakim Donev, the driving instructor
  • Georgi Rusev as Baltiev, the lawyer
  • Nikola Todev as the uncle
  • Tsvetana Maneva as Pehlivanova
  • Nevena Kokanova as the older sister-in-law
  • Mariya Statulova as the younger sister-in-law
  • Mariana Dimitrova as Mima, Baltiev's wife
  • Doroteya Toncheva as "Number 7"
  • Yordanka Kuzmanova as Daneva
  • Nadya Todorova as Dimitrova
  • Boryana Puncheva as Anna-Dona
  • Ilka Zafirova as Stancheva
  • Ivan Yanchev as Gechev, the private detective

Response

A reported 1,191,037 admissions were recorded for the film in cinemas throughout Bulgaria.[5]

The film was subsumed among the 50 golden Bulgarian films in the book by the journalist Pencho Kovachev. The book was published in 2008 by "Zahariy Stoyanov" publishing house.

There were the following publications:[6]

  • Bulgarian Film Magazine, vol.6, 1980,p. 5 - by M. Balkanska
  • New Films Magazine, vol.9-1980,p. 15-18 by E. Gyurkova
  • Film News Magazine, vol. 10-1980,p. 3 - by V. Delcheva
  • FILM ART magazine, vol. 1,1981,p. 50-53 - by B. Mihaylov
  • Film Worker magazine, vol.1-1981,p. 41-44 - by O. Saparev
  • Film News Magazine, vol. 3-1981,p. 6-7 - by I. Bozhinova

Notes
  1. http://bnf.bg/en/gallery/posters/ Bulgarian National Film Archive
  2. Bulgarian National Film Archive, Bulgarian Featured Film Encyclopedy 2008, volume three, p. 385
  3. Bulgarian National Film Archive, Bulgarian Featured Film Encyclopedy 2008, volume three, p. 384
  4. Bulgarian National Film Archive, Bulgarian Featured Film Encyclopedy 2008, volume three, p. 384
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2010-02-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Reported Audience
  6. Bulgarian National Film Archive, Bulgarian Featured Film Encyclopedy 2008, volume three, p. 385

References
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