By Jack Ransom - October 15, 2024
Triumph is set after the Fall of Communism in the early 1990s, a classified task force of high-rank Bulgarian Army officers led by a pair of psychic channellers (Maria Bakalova & Margita Gosheva) starts digging a hole in search of a mysterious artefact which will bring about the ultimate triumph.
The great thing about LFF is the sheer variety of options available that can conveniently lead to a double or (if you're lucky) triple bill. Triumph was conveniently timed before my afternoon flick and I went in pretty much completely blind outside of its brief synopsis and Maria Bakalova in the starring role. Unfortunately this didn’t quite click for me personally, though it certainly isn’t without its merits.
I will say the synopsis oversells the premise a tad. The mystique surrounding the artefact and the stakes themselves never feel particularly heightened or fully realised. Instead, Triumph is going for a more satirical approach to the material, which may be more investing overall for viewers that are familiar with the true story.
There are interesting and chuckle worthy elements (the whole bumbling yet dedicated insanity to their goal is funny in itself) and the dry-witted, blunt line delivery seeps over the material. It’s just a shame that the repetitive and somewhat meandering/slice-of-life structure didn’t really hook me and the film treads the line of never fully being hilarious or narratively engaging for me.
Triumph is well shot and very much transports you back to the early 90’s. The harsh countryside is a dulled grey and green palette and the cinematography and camerawork captures the warmer moments (the campfire sequence is good fun) and there is also somewhat of a documentary-esque vibe to the proceedings with handheld camera-usage and the naturalistic performances.
Maria Bakalova is great here. Here innocent, free-spirited, eccentric behaviour is almost Chaplin-esque at times. Margita Gosheva, Julian Vergov and Ivan Savov also deliver in their supporting roles.
Triumph is a well shot and performed, quirky satirical comedy that unfortunately didn’t quite land for me. The premise is far more intriguing than the execution and despite a few laughs I found myself largely indifferent throughout the whole runtime.
Triumph is coming soon
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