A One Mann’s Movies review of “Triumph” (2024) (From the 2024 London Film Festival).
Original title: Triumf.
It’s one of those films that seemed to baffle half of the press audience. And indeed it is a pretty baffling film, even though it is – bizarrely – “inspired by true events”.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Triumph” Plot Summary:
In Bulgaria, a secret army initiative is using two psychics – Slava (Maria Bakalova) and Lieutenant Pirina Nyagolova (Margita Gosheva) – to identify the location of, and then access, a strange object buried in the countryside. Are they both fakes? Is there anything there at all? It doesn’t help that they appear to disagree with each other.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (This has not yet been rated by the BBFC but I would expect it to be a ’15’ because of sexual content and strong language.)
Talent:
Starring: Maria Bakalova, Margita Gosheva, Julian Vergov, Julian Kostov, Stanislav Ganchev, Ivan Savov.
Directed by: Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov.
Written by: Kristina Grozeva, Decho Taralezhkov & Petar Valchanov.
Running Time: 1h 38m.
“Triumph” Summary:
Positives:
- Dry comedy that is intermittently very funny indeed.
- Something very very different!
Negatives:
- It’s a very acquired taste and is likely to be a ‘Marmite sort of movie’.
Review of “Triumph”:
Bonkers!
We start with the Bulgarian army, under the command of Colonel Platnikov (Julian Vergov), digging a big hole only to find… nothing. But then Slava (Maria Bakalova), Platnikov’s weirdly psychic daughter, randomly starts spinning in another part of the meadow before lying down on the grass. “This is it”, exclaims Lieutenant Pirina Nyagolova (Margita Gosheva), the other psychic on the team, and draws a circle around Slava to begin excavation.
What are they looking for? Nobody is really sure. Some think it is a ‘Psychotronic weapon’; some a Meteorite; some an element unknown to man; some Noah’s Ark! But the army have created something that looks like a mini “Arrival” camp in the middle of the meadow, just a few miles from a major city whose lights twinkle in the background.
Sex as a convincer.
From here, it just gets progressively weirder. Platnikov, through the excavated stones, is in ‘communication’ with a higher being called Yolo. Yolo ‘tells her’ where to dig tunnels in order to reach the chamber they are seeking. But revised instructions keep coming through and they keep digging! If the top-brass start to criticize Platnikov, she just sleeps with them until they back off. She also has to keep cleansing everyone’s auras in case the forces being unearthed ‘deactimate’ them!
However, Slava is getting different messages and seems much more ‘real’. She can control people and things just by thinking about it. She is generally ‘in the zone’ on the site. At one point she finds a private, Georgi (Julian Kostov), who has “matching frequencies” with her for which a ritual must be performed using his ‘antenna’. (The ritual involves her needing to wash her knickers the next morning and the private has a big smile on his face.) And she claims she needs regular boosters!
And so it goes.
You get the gist. And so it proceeds with an increasingly mind-bending plot. What happens in the end? Do they find anything? That would be a spoiler.
Bakalova is excellent.
Maria Bakalova (at 28) plays the role as if she is about 15, and gets away with it. As well as “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm“, she was also pretty good in the (underrated) “Bodies Bodies Bodies“. Here she is back in her native Bulgaria and speaking Bulgarian. She is a co-producer on this and the star of the film by a long way.
Monkey?
There’s no “monkey” per se, but over the end titles there are black and white photos of what was clearly the “true event” that inspired the film.
Summary Thoughts on “Triumph”
This will not be a film for everyone. Whether the dry, and sometimes very dark, humour will appeal to you will determine your enjoyment. I was intrigued and, yes, I was entertained by it. But it is a real oddity. “Every day’s a Triumph!”
I understand that this is Bulgaria’s submission for the International Oscar. I’m quite sure it will baffle the Academy jury too!
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
At the time of writing, this was not available on the Justwatch database.
Trailer for “Triumph:
The trailer is here: https://youtu.be/86FKWgsW7ec .
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