The Goat Horn

Running time: 88 mins

Except for the period clothing of the late middle ages, this story could have been torn from the headlines coming out of Bosnia, or elsewhere in the Balkans in the past few years. It vividly shows the hatreds and cruelties between Muslims and Christians resulting from the long occupation of the area by the Turks, making it very clear why present-day attitudes exist there. A peasant farmer and his young wife and child, living in their mountain home, are attacked by a few local Turkish thugs, leaving the wife dead and their young daughter, Maria, unable to speak from shock. The father and daughter are shown some years later, traveling as entertainers in costumes which conceal their faces and disguise the young girl as a boy. Their travels and encounters encompass acts of revenge, love, and tragedy. The raw emotions displayed by father and daughter as they meet others along the way, make for a very moving understanding of human character conditioned by the stress of death and loss. For the jaded film-goer and fans of the exotic, this Bulgarian film is a rare find. --Ed Soohoo